Drugs, terrorism and HIV, worries for Pacific islands [1]
Monday, December 1, 2003 - 10:30. Updated on Saturday, April 26, 2014 - 22:32.
Matangi Tonga, Vol. 18, No. 3
In response to growing menaces, Pacific leaders take another look at their regional networks.
By Pesi Fonua
Drug trafficking, terrorism, and the spread of HIV aids are the latest menaces to worry Pacific leaders, says Sir Julius Chan, the former Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea.
Sir Julius Chan is now part of a five-member Eminent Persons Group, currently touring the 16-member countries of the Pacific Islands Forum to find out "how best each country is dealing with these problems."
Sir Julius was in Nuku'alofa in mid-November to meet government officials, National Institutions and the Civil Society groups.
Sir Julius told the Matangi Tonga that drug traffickers and terrorists were, "using the Pacific routes to do their terrorists works," and he believed that it was time for Pacific Leaders to make a collective effort to deal with the problems.
With regards to the spread of HIV and Aids Sir Julius said that the effort to stop the spread of the disease in the region was complicated by the fact that Pacific governments were striving to develop their tourism industries. ...Tourism is being promoted but there is no check on visitors, so they come here, and some bring HIV aids. Some of them even stay on and become illegal immigrants....
Forum
He said that the Eminent Persons Group was formed at the recent 34th Forum meeting, in Auckland in August.
"The Prime Minister of New Zealand, Helen Clark, is the current chair person of the Forum, who was mandated by the Forum Leaders to form the Eminent Persons Group."
Selected members include Teburoro Tito, the former President of Kiribati; Sir Julius Chan; Maiava Iulai Toma, the Ombudsman of Samoa; Dr Langi Kavaliku, the pro-Chancellor of the University of the South Pacific; and Bob Cotton, a retired Australian diplomat.
"Pacific leaders decided that it was time for us to have another look at our regional network, and the effectiveness of the Forum Island Secretariat. As you know the Leaders meet every year, they come and make a lot of decisions, but quite a number of these decisions are not implemented," said Sir Julius.
"They want to make sure that member countries get the services from the Secretariat, they also want to know-now that the world is undergoing a lot of changes, some forced onto the region-what do we have to do to safeguard ourselves?"
Peacekeepers
One issue that Sir Julius Chan will raise with Pacific Leaders is the formation of a permanent regional Peace Keeping Unit. Sir Julius said that he had been a proponent of a Regional Peace Keeping force during the past 20 years.
"I presented the idea after I helped to quell the rebellion in Vanuatu in 1980. I deployed the PNG Defence Force to Vanuatu because Australia and New Zealand did not want to come in, but I thought it was necessary for me to assist my Melanesian brothers. Father Walter Lini gained independence and it was very successful. A year later I proposed that we should have a permanent peace keeping force for the South Pacific, but it was opposed by Muldoon and Fraser [the Prime Ministers of Australia and New Zealand]. But now 20 years later they want to establish a permanent Peace Keeping Unit. They have no choice this time because there is a problem in the Solomons, but New Zealand and Australia did not want to do it alone so they called in forces from other island countries. The other thing is, that the last thing we want to see is New Zealand and Australia acting on their own."
In 1995 Sir Julius Chan requested the services of the first South Pacific Peace Keeping force, a 2000 task force which was made up of Australians, New Zealanders, Fijians, Ni Vanuatuan and Tongans, which was deployed on the island of Bougainville to maintain peace during the Bougainville Peace Conference at Arawa from October 10-14, 1994. Sir Julius was optimistic that his idea for a permanent South Pacific Peace Keeping force will eventually become a reality.
Is there a possibility for the Pacific Forum to develop further and become something like the European Union, with one currency and more power to take action on regional issues?
Sir Julius said that the finding of the Eminent Group, "will tell us the type of activities we want the Forum to do. The Forum may be given more power, to be able to intervene before a crisis on a whole range of issues and to build up its capacity to do so."
Sir Julius did not think that New Zealand and Australia would favour the idea of a one currency for the whole region. ...To have a policy of one currency will not necessarily be good for everyone. We have our own independence therefore we can do whatever we want to do. If we have a common currency with Australia, a country in trouble can overuse its funds and that will have a negative impact on the currency of Australia and New Zealand. I think the idea is good but it has to be worked out carefully....
WTO membership
On the concept of regional free trade and island countries becoming members of the World Trade Organisation, Sir Julius, speaking from experience since PNG was the first country in the region to become a member of the WTO a few years ago, warned that there is a risk.
"ree trade means that we can import a variety of products from overseas, but at the same time it allows overseas manufacturers to choke our local industries. Individual countries must look at their own priorities, so that in the course of becoming a member of the WTO you are not chopping your own neck, and committing suicide. All I am saying it is a risk. In the short term it may close down your industries because they can...t compete, but in the long term it is good for the consumers and you may attract foreign investment for local industries."
With regards to Papua New Guinea, a huge country with an abundance of natural wealth, Sir Julius said that smaller countries like Tonga, "may be able to survive longer than us. I say that because big or more, is not necessarily better because somehow it ingrains in your head to be lazy. The thing to remember that natural wealth will not be staying there all the time, and the problem with natural wealth, let's say gold, might provide jobs during the construction phase, but after construction it could be reduced to half, but meanwhile gold is still being extracted. That is why I said, big is useful, but small is beautiful."