Sinking, strike, and a

AUGUST 1

TWO former French Navy ships sank at the weekend after hitting the reef at Cikobia Island, north of Vanua Levu. The 14 men aboard the 560-ton ships got ashore at Cokobia safely and are due to be picked up today by the Government landing, ship, Tabilai, and brought to Suva. The ships, one towing the other, were reported to have been on the way from Tahiti to a scrapyard in Singapore when they hit the reef on Friday.

One of them had sunk by Saturday morning and the other followed her down to the bottom later in the day.

AUGUST 2

NEW Zealand golfer Walter Godfrey was the only man to cope well with the wet conditions on the third day of the Air New Zealand Fiji Open golf tournament. With a round of 71, he was the only competitor to achieve better-than-par or even par-figures. It put him only one stroke behind the tournament leader, fellow New Zealander Barry Vivian. Rain deluged the course causing a 90-minute interruption to play in the morning.

AUGUST 3

NINE sugar industry trade union

Vatukoula’s hooker Sunia had also missed three penalties in the early phases and a vital one in the dying period of the 80 minutes.

Both teams squandered scoring opportunities through silly mistakes and scrappy play.

Vatukoula, which had lost to Suva 9-12, in the second round of the Fiji Rugby Union Cup fixture at Theodore Park a week ago, never produced the heroic play it showed against Suva. The side was the same except for winger Nawaqa who had to withdraw because of an injury. However, he came on later in extra-time.

Both captains worked hard all afternoon as they headed their forward play, but an outstanding Cagilaba was much faster clearing the ball from every maul and ruck. officials, who were arrested on Sunday for allegedly breaking sugar industry laws, arrived in Suva yesterday afternoon for talks to get the four Fiji Sugar Corporation mills reopened.

The men, members of the Sugar Mills Staff Officers’ Association committee, were freed on $400 bail each on Sunday night after appearing before a magistrate at Lautoka.

They were ordered to appear at Lautoka court next Monday.

AUGUST 4

THE Gilbert Islands Government has prepared for alternative air services if the country’s air links with Fiji are disrupted, according to the Gilbertese newspaper Atoll Pioneer.

It does not say what the alternatives are. Last week the Fiji Council of Trade Unions said its affiliated unions would refuse to handle planes bound for Tarawa, in the Gilberts, as a sign of support for the Banaban claim for Ocean Island’s independence.

AUGUST 5

SUVA City Council will ask several Samabula property owners to give up some of their land so that a Baniwai Rd bottleneck can be eliminated. Except for a short section near the Kings Rd junction, the road was widened and straightened several years ago to be a major transport artery. Land purchase difficulties prevented the reconstruction of a winding section of road passing Belo, Sese and Ruve streets. To finish the road, the council needs part of about a dozen building sections and would have to demolish at least two houses.

AUGUST 6

DEFENDING B Division champion Navua yesterday retained the Fiji Football Association Cup which it won in 1975 at Labasa when it defeated Rakiraki 1-0 at the Inter-district Championship at Govind Park Ba. Navua, with former Suva players Pio Cavuilati and Namulo, was undoubtedly the better team in yesterday’s final. However, Rakiraki, which beat newly formed Bua 3-0 in the semi-final, performed creditably.

AUGUST 7

FIJI’S four sugar mills will resume crushing today for the first time in five days following a decision by striking members of the Sugar Milling Staff Officers’ Association to return to work.

The 200 strikers, who walked off in protest against an arbitration award by Don Dunckley in a pay dispute with the Fiji Sugar Corporation, were supported by 3000 members of the Sugar and General Workers’ Union in a oneday sympathy strike last Friday.

AUGUST 8

ABOUT 1000 people living in the Waila-Dilkusha area of Nausori will carry on their fight to have it excluded from the Nausori Town boundaries, according to an association they have formed. A spokesman for the Waila-Dilkusha residents association said they would ask the Minister for Local Government, Mohammed Ramzan, to reverse his decision to reject their appeal for separation from the town.

AUGUST 9

Luke Nabaro, using his weight advantage, looked impressive when bulldosing his way through the Ba line-up, but lacked support from his forwards.

Play, which started 30 minutes late, had Vatukoula on the defensive as Ba pressed hard on the Vatukoula line.

The Ba backs ran well with good passing, but did not gain much ground.

It camped on the Vatukoula territory for 10 minutes, but could not penetrate the Vatukoula defence.

Both sides tried hard to score, but missed many chances in the scoreless first half.

Vatukoula was most unimpressive with its play phase that Saturday. Its backs were unable to feed the wingers until late into the game.

Fereti at five-eighth did not combine well with his halfback and at times made

WORK on the Fiji Electricity Authority’s multi-million dollar power station at Vuda, near Lautoka

is running behind schedule because of delays in deliveries of equipment and the need for checking up new engines before instalment. Originally expected to be completed by next month, it will now be fully operational early next year. This is to be after an initial commissioning period in December during which checks will be made to ensure the station is running smoothly.

AUGUST 10

GATE-TAKINGS for the InterDistrict Soccer tournament at Ba last weekend were a record. Although Ba Town Council was still working out the exact figures yesterday, reliable sources said at least $60,000 and possibly as much as $70,000 was collected during the four-day tournament. The sources added that the amount was more than double what the Fiji Football Association collected from previous Inter-district-competitions.

AUGUST 11

CHANGES in education law will see the creation of an education forum on which representatives of Fiji’s 759 schools can express their views. Prime Minister, Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara said the forum would be a statutory body which would give better representation for the authorities which controlled schools. Other changes in the Education Ordinance would increase fines for offences connected with opening schools without permission, teaching without a certificate and maliciously disturbing schools or teachers.

AUGUST 12

cross kicks to Ba’s advantage.

Vatukoula came back into the game in the second session with hard attacks on the Ba line.

Both teams missed lots of scoring chances in the second half through bad handling and passes.

Vatukoula came alive towards the end and almost scored when winger Jone Taafu made a 20-yard dash down the flank after a set play from halfway, but was pushed out two yards from the line.

Twenty minutes extra time was allowed and Ba was awarded a penalty, 30 yards out from the goal in the first minute which Cagilaba easily booted in for the opening points.

Vatukoula came back, tried hard to equalise or score a decider, but Ba held on to its lead of 3-0 until the final whistle.

A $500,000 extension will be added to the new wing of Government Buildings in Suva. As it stands now it is too small and leaks badly, the Prime Minister, Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara, who has his office in the wing, said yesterday. The addition will be built on to each end of the building and will increase its floor space by 19,600 sq ft. Since the Government was paying more than $350,000 a year for office space it rented in Suva, the new space was an “economic proposition”, he said.

AUGUST 13

DESHAIYA Sami Naidu, who was made a life member of the Fiji Football Association last weekend at Ba, served under five presidents as secretary of the association. He was manager of the Fiji soccer team which toured New Zealand, Noumea and Australia in 1969 and chairman of the FFA Silver Jubilee Celebration committee. He successfully introduced a motion at Nadi in 1962 that all races should be allowed to take part in soccer.

AUGUST 14

THERE has been another spate of complaints about the muddy water Nadi people have been getting for the past year. Nadi’s health officer Gopi Chand said two weeks ago a representative of the Central Board of Health would take sedimentation and chemical samples of the water. But bank officer Lino Crocker said yesterday: “The only difference is that since two weeks ago the water has been a darker shade of brown.”

AUGUST 19

RECOMMENDATION that people should now be barred from drink