Pacific leaders focus on Sustainable development

Issue

By Ed Rampell

AT the same historic mo ment South Africa voted in its first non-racial, one person-one-vote election, Pacific Island leaders hold ing a South Seas summit in Hawaii elected as their vice-chair and press spokes man Major-General Siti veni Rabuka the coup plotter-cum-Prime- Minister-of Fiji who presides over one of the world’s last apartheid-like constitutions, created at gunpoint. Prime ministers, presidents, and other high ranking Oceanic poli ticians crossed the picket lines of striking govern ment workers struggling for the rights of a small island people to hold the 21st meeting of the Standing Committee of the Pacific

Conference of Leaders at Honolulu’s East-West Centre (E-WC).

The largely US taxpayer-funded meetings were held behind closed doors, in apparent violation of Hawaii’s “sun shine law”, which guarantees the media and others access to public facilities used for political and other purposes.

Besides Rabuka and his security detail, participants in the April 26 to 27 Hawaii summit included Cooks prime minister Sir Geoffrey Henry, Papua New Guinea deputy prime minister/foreign minister Sir Julius Chan, Nauru president Bernard Dowiyogo, Tonga prime minis ter Baron Vaea, Federated States of Micronesia vice-president Jacob Nena, Vanuatu deputy prime minister Sethy J.

Regenvanu, French Polynesia represen tative Alexandre Moeava Ata, New Caledonia observer Gerard Bauchdon, and Hawaii representative Palani Vaughan. Guam governor Joseph Ada was among the no-shows.

Despite the media ban on the working sessions, this reporter managed to attend one of the meetings held in E-WC’s Pacific Room of Jefferson Hall (named after a great champion of a free press).

In fact, the discussions among the summiteers proved to be substantial, informative, and devoid of rancour or anything else to be secretive about. To a large extent, the standing committee reviewed the research and training activities of the E-WC’s Pacific Islands

Development Programme (PIDP),

which serves as the secretariat and research arm of the Pacific Islands

Conference, an organisation of heads of government (the standing committee is composed of their representatives). The conference last met in June last year in Tahiti. For two days, the summit ran smoothly and ahead of time. The Cooks’

Sir Geoffrey was elected standing com mittee’s chair, Fiji’s Rabuka was elected vice-chair and spokesman. Much dis cussion centred around the concept of sustainable development, which chair man Sir Geoffrey succinctly described as “how to make money without exhausting the pool”. In his cogent, complex presentation called ‘Harmonizing Re-

sources for Sustainable Economic Development in the Pacific Islands Con text’, PIDP director Dr Sitiveni Halapua went on to define this important idea as “meeting the needs of the present without compromising or under mining the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”.

Prime Minister Sir Geoffrey praised Dr Halapua’s report, complete with charts, because it “puts ideas into paper, with a practical way to pursue sustainable devel opment. It’s one of the most important works PIDP has done”. The standing committee was so impressed with Dr Halapua’s work that it transmitted a related resol ution to the UN Confer

ence on the Sustainable Development of Small Island States held in Barbados last month, and will send one to the South Pacific Forum when it meets in August in Australia.

In his analytical framework, Dr Halapua, a Tongan, stressed the import ance of respecting culture, which has often been displaced by development.

This prompted Rabuka to say, with understatement “Fiji had a series of development plans. Something hap pened in 1987 (then-Colonel Rabuka’s two military coup d’etats that overthrew democratically elected, pro-labour, anti nuclear governments with broad Indian support) that put an end to the plans (laughter from participants) ... Our cultures have suffered in development.

Our forefathers believed development turned away from culture. Only recently we’ve reoriented our thinking, that culture can optimise development.”

The Fiji prime minister cited two examples of how he thought develop ment impacted negatively on indigenous traditions industrial jobs brought womenfolk into the workplace and out of their homes, where custom believes they belong. In an interview, Rabuka added that the 19th century British introduc tion of indentured laborers from India to work in the sugarcane plantations, sup posedly on a short term basis, caused big changes in Fijian culture.

Another important matter considered by the standing committee is the closing of the Pacific’s two USAID offices at Suva and Port Moresby.

Ed Rampell

Japan donation: Japan’s consul-general Kensaku Hogen presents PIDP chairman Sir Geoffrey Henry with the US$150,000 cheque

Concerned: Sir Julius Chan

The possibility of the transference of USAID (America’s key donor agency in the South Pacific) into PIDP was raised, if funding for PIDP’s additional work load was forthcoming. Part of this initiative involves a database on Pacific Island trade the Joint Commercial Com mission (JCC) has been working on. JCC is a trade programme initiated by former US president George Bush and 13 Pacific nations to further import-export activity between Oceania and America. The database, with comprehensive infor mation on commerce which could be

accessed by govern ments and the pri vate sector, could come under PIDP purview if USAID is incorporated into

Pidp.

In addition to the above changes, the committee also dis cussed pending restructuring of the

E-Wc, A Us

Congress-funded academic institution based in Honolulu, that is often a bridge between America, Oceania, and Asia.

Under new leader ship, E-WC has more islander students than ever before, but is now re-evaluating where PIDP will fit in E-WC’s new struc tures.

At a luncheon, the consul-general of Japan in Hawaii presented a US$l5O,OOO con tri

bution to PIDP to chairman Sir Geoffrey. Over the years, Japan has donated about US$l.5 million to PIDP.

PIDP is an Oceanic-oriented think tank that performs research at the request of Pacific leaders. It is then up to members to implement the PlDP derived policies in their respective islands. PIDP is now studying popu lation, but Dr Halapua says it has initiated private sector orientation in the Pacific, and PNG’s Sir Julius cites “rural electrification” as a PIDP programme that has benefited his nation. Small isles like Kiribati donate US$4OOO per year while larger islands like PNG donate U 5525,000 annually (France’s overseas territories, New Caledonia and French

Polynesia, recently joined the highest

paying category voluntarily). But most of the PI DP’s activities are paid for by US taxpayers and Japanese donations, which raises the question of outside influence.

During one summit session, the rep resentative of French Polynesia (controversially identified again, as in the June, 1993 conference, as “Tahiti- Nui”) said, “If the standing committee decides to do research, is the final decision with E-WC?” France, of course, has a long tradition of independence, and

does not want to be dominated by the US or anyone else. Di rector Dr Halapua con ceded that PIDP “has a fiduciary re sponsibility to the US Congress ... But it pays close attention to the standing committee”.

Sir Julius, a member of the Non-Aligned Movement, at tended the sum mit during a swing through Oceania to meet his counterparts, and complained in an interview that “the US has little link with the South Pa cific”, but did express concern that Washing

ton could try to influence Oceania through PIDP and its funding. During the meetings, Sir Julius expressed a wish to compel the major industrialised na tions not to exploit Pacific resources, like fishing. But Rabuka, who went to Washington after the summit, denied that the US unduly tries to influence the Pacific via PIDP.

Rabuka made these comments as the committee’s elected spokesman during a press conference largely ignored by Honolulu’s press corps, which often ignores news of their “little black and brown brothers”. During the press con ference, this reporter asked Fiji’s PM “Today, in South Africa, they’re having these historic events, multi-racial elec tions for the first time, one-man-one

vote. As you well know, you’re a very controversial figure. What would your response be to critics of you who would say that it’s very ironic that today, of all days, that a prime minister of a country where they have a constitution that

racially allocates voting, that you’d be

vice-chairman of this international meet ing and its spokesperson? And how would you respond to critics who would say this

is inappropriate, given what’s happening

in South Africa?”

“I’m not worried about those critics.

All I’m Saying is that things change change perhaps is not the word. I’d rather use the word evolve. And the constitution in Fiji should be allowed to evolve. In 1987, when racial tensions were very high, we needed to bring in a constitution the indigenous Fijians could be happy with. They have been happy with this one. Although in the last five years there have been areas that they have focused on to say, ‘Well, we believe we can give some in that area, we need a bit more in this.’ And the Indians, on their part, have responded favourably.

And also the minority groups.

“How long has it taken South Africa to come to this one-man-one-vote sys tem? In the last constitution of Fiji, one man had four votes. We now have one man voting for his own people, either three or two of his own people. Give us time, give Fiji time to also evolve. The current trends in demographic compo sition, and the demographic changes, show that, in time, Fiji will have the demographic picture that will either justify the current allocation of seats in parliament (37 seats are set aside for indigenous Fijians, 27 for Indians, and six for Europeans, Chinese, Rotumans, etc) or demand a change. And also, the cultural interaction in our schools. I don’t want to say now what my

granddaughter should by governed by

during her time. It should be allowed to change. And our constitution is written in such a way that the first review must be completed by the 25th of July, 1997.

And thereafter, every 10 years. So it will be a growing document that will change with the times, or evolve with the times.”

Committee chairman Sir Geoffrey called the meetings “Great. The best yet.” But out on the picket line the Pacific leaders crossed to enter the E-WC, their fellow islanders were less upbeat. “We do not have control over this picket line,” claimed a native Hawaiian representative of the Hawaii Government Employees Association.

“The police control the picket line,” she said, as police intimidated the mainly female strikers. □

Spokesman: Fiji’s PM Sitiveni Rabuka