On March 23, 1977, The Fiji Times featured the following
articles.
Bus safety course is a huge flop
A safety course for Southern Division bus drivers was failing for lack of students, a driving instructor said yesterday.
The instructor, Mr Bahadur Ali, said that attendance had dropped from more than 80 drivers last week to a daily average of three.
The course was set up by the Ministry of Transport with the Fiji National Training Council and Fiji Road Safety Council in response to public alarm about bus safety standards.
Mr Ali said most of the drivers who attended the course last week were employed by the Suva Transport Company, Vatuwaqa Transport and the Central Transport Company.
“There are almost 200 drivers in the Southern Division and we expect them all to take the course but we fear the operators may not be releasing them,” Mr Ali said.
All bus operators in the Southern Division were told of the course ahead of time and were urged to send their drivers to attend.
Emperor Co’s mine back in operation
The gold mine at Vatukoula was now operating normally except for a shortage of skilled labour, Emperor Gold Mining Co’s chairman Jeffrey Reid, said yesterday.
“However, there is still a lot of cleaning up to be done,” he said.
The main problem now was the lack of skilled tradesmen, he said.
Emperor lost some at the time of the mine’s closure. They had found jobs elsewhere.
If Emperor could not get the required skilled labour, it would have to train the workers it had already for various jobs.
The secretary for Finance, Mr Savenaca Siwatibau, went to Vatukoula on Monday for what is believed to be his final round of interviews and inquiries before his committee tables its report about the mineworkers’ pay and conditions and the mine’s future.
The Minister for Labour, Ratu David Toganivalu appointed the committee following the closure of the mine.
Air trips to Ba still off
People wanting to fly Fiji Air to Ba will have to wait a while longer; the airstrip is still not ready.
Ba Town Council, which is getting the strip into shape, has had to stop levelling work because of the wet weather. The town clerk, Mr Rajendra Prasad, said work would resume as soon as the weather improved.
The airstrip originally was expected to be ready before March 13, when the first of the two World Cup elimination soccer matches between Taiwan and Australia was played.
It is on land near the Namosau low-cost homes.
Masi deception causes row
The Fiji Craft Association is up in arms at what it calls the deception of the Tonga Trading Company.
A craft association official said she was horrified when she heard that Fijian masi was being sold as malie, which is a sacred masi depicting the marriage of Queen Salote of Tonga.
“Both the Tongans and the Fijian masi makers are angry at the deception,” said said.
She said the spurious masi was labelled as made in Fiji by Tongans.
The Ministry of Commerce and Industries was trying to establish export market for local masi in North America and this would not succeed if other people tried to deceive overseas buyers,” she said.The Vatulele masi, on reaching Hawaii, was mounted on hessian and sold as wall hangings.
“No one knows how it is exported or how the whole business was established but it certainly is bad for the market that the ministry is trying to establish,” the official said.
In sports:
Champ at peak of fitness for Ve fight
Fiji welterweight boxing champion Inia Catarogo should beat Sakaraia Ve, Catarogo’s manager Ilisoni Nate said from Labasa yesterday.
Nate who flew to Labasa on Monday to watch Catarogo make his final preparation for his title defence against Sakaraia Ve on April at Lambert Hall, said Catarogo was at his peak.
“Cataorogo would not leave Labasa until next Wednesday to give himself more esolid workouts,” he said.
“He is at his peak this boy — he will surely beat Ve to keep his title,” Nate predicted.
“Catarogo did vigorous roadwork each morning and afternoon,” he said.
“And his sparring partners are boxers who are all over 15 stones.”
Nate said he and Catarogo decided to change their plan to come to Suva early because they thought it would be more useful for them to train at Seaqaqa.
Torika appeals for help with clinics
Former Fiji woman sprinter Torika Varo, who is running daily athletics clinic at the Nadi Aiport ground with former sprinter Ana Ramacake Birch, yesterday appealed for more co-operation from male athletes, especially ex-sprinters, to help to organise meetings and traing for the Fiji championships in Suva next month.
Torika said there was great interest from girls attending the clinics but they still needed the support of more boys to boost chances in both fields.
The Nadi association has a total membership of 60 but only a few had turned up for training in the past few days, including three boys who impressed Torika with their speed.
Hurdler to return for Easter athletics
Former Fiji hurdler Samu Konataci will be among New Hebrides athletes taking part in the Fiji championships in Suva at Easter.
Konataci, a 1966 Fiji hurdler at the Noumea South Pacific Games is back at his peak and will be a threat to Fiji hurdlers.
Last year he won the silver medal at the first South Pacific championships in Noumea.
Konataci said New Hebrides athletes were all in top form and were looking forward to the Fiji championship.
