Fiji auditor-general

Business Bulletin

Qantas begins non-stop

Fiji-Los Angeles service

AUSTRALIAN airline Qantas has be gun non-stop flights between Nadi, in Fiji, and Los Angeles using the 406-seat Boeing 747-400 jet. The twice weekly service, which was inaugurated on March 30, replaces four 235-seat Boeing 747 Combi flights which passed through Hawaii.

Qantas’ manageress for Fiji and Pa cific Islands Katy Weekes said the new route would make Fiji an even more attractive destination for Americans who would have a chance to fly direct without having to pass through Hawaii. As part of changes to its Pacific services, Qantas will stop direct flights from Australia to San Francisco. But it will continue to provide services to San Francisco by a code-share arrangement with US Air via Los Angeles.

PNG moves trade

office to Brisbane

PAPUA New Guinea has moved its Australian trade office from Sydney to Brisbane. Deputy secretary of foreign affairs and trade Maimu Raka-Nou said the former trade commissioner in Syd ney, Legu Leaghy, was already in the Queensland capital to head the office.

Raka-Nou said the office was moved from Sydney because there was a grow ing interest in trade between PNG and Queensland. At the same time PNG has created a new consulate in Cairns which is expected to be in place this month.

NBC Radio says the new consulate is the result of the growing commercial interest between PNG and the far north Queens land.

New air link betwen

Guam and PNG province

AN air service between Papua New Guinea’s New Ireland Province and Guam is set to start this year. The tri monthly service will begin once approval is received from PNG’s department of foreign affairs and trade and civil avaiation. It will be operated by Guam based Aviation Services Pty Ltd.

Call for govt to

review timber deals

THE premier of Papua New Guinea’s West New Britain Province, Bernard Vogae, has called on the national government to review all existing timber agreements. Radio NBC said Vogae had made the urgent appeal because of environmental problems currently being

experienced from logging operations in

the province.

Vogae said many of the agreements signed between landowwners and log ging contractors do not highlight forest sustainability. The agreements mention only royalties, premiums and infrastruc ture developments. Because of this, landowner companies and contractors care little about the environmental effects of logging, Vogae said.

Aust envoy follows

up on Majuro visit

AUSTRALIAN ambassador to the Marshall Islands Peter Stanford has completed a visit to Majuro to follow up on the development of commercial links between the two countries which were an important element of President Amata Kabua’s state visit to Canberra late last year. Stanford said discussions were held with Kabua and members of the govern ment as well as the chamber of commerce and individual business leaders.

He said it was evident that the commercial relationship between Aus tralia and Marshall Islands was about to take off.

Tonga set to export

breadfruit to NZ

NEW Zealand has opened a market for frozen breadfruit from Tonga. Pre viously, Tongans had been able to export only cooked breadfruit to New Zealand.

The head of Tonga’s quarantine and quality management division of the agriculture ministry, Konrad Engelberger, said peeled and frozen breadfruit could be accepted as commer cial shipments provided they are frozen at -18 degrees Celsius for seven days. The quarantine division has to verify and issue a certificate that the shipment has been frozen as required before it is accepted in New Zealand.

Fiji auditor-general

points to shipping loss

FIJI’S auditor-general, Ramesh Dutt,

says the government will suffer a loss of US$6.4 million by the time the marine

department’s shipyard completes the

73-metre Reef Endeavour for an Australian cruise company. Dutt’s audit report has been tabled in parliament.

Dutt said the agreed price in 1989 when the contract was signed was for US$6.2 million and the ship was to be delivered in April 1991. He said the shipyard’s own estimates of costs were approximately $lO million but the pur chaser was able to negotiate it down to just US$6.2 million. Dutt said the various delays meant the government would now make a massive loss of US$6.4 million on the deal. □