Korman defends

small islands

VANUATU Prime Minister Maxim Carlot Korman attended and made a strong speech in defence of small islands and of the French language.

He complained that the AOSIS press conference was to be conducted in English and remarked caustically that “French is a working language of the UN. It is not a small island among the world’s languages”. The local news paper, the Barbados Advocate, had reproduced an article from PIM, asking where Robert Van Lierop, the former Vanuatu ambassador and first chairman of AOSIS was. The article attracted some considerable atten tion, with even members of the US delegation saying how much the former ambassador was missed.

Korman referring to press reports, claimed credit for Vanuatu for Van Lierop being the first chairman, and said that although, “now internally we made a change, but we feel AOSIS must continue”. □