South Pacific
From the Revd Tebuke Rotan
Sir: I was reluctant to comment upon the letter you published from the Chief Minister of the Gilbert and Ellice Islands Colony, (September 27). My people have no quarrel with the Gilbertese and appreciate their special problems.
As your journal has shown enough interest to dedicate a fair amount of your space to our island affairs, I feel 'your readers may wish to know of a 'recent development of some significance to the future of our part of the South Pacific as Britain prepares to divest herself of one of her last remaining colonial responsibilities.
A meeting recently took place at !Tarawa, capital of the GEIC, between my Council and the GE1C Council of Ministers. The meeting was chaired by, and indeed was the result of initiatives undertaken by, the Prime Minister of Fiji, Ratu Sir Kamisese _Mara, and was
held with the agreement of the administering power, Britain, although the IParliamentary Under-Secretary of State ;at the Fa), Mr Ted Rowlands, MP, made it plain that Britain would not consider herself bound by any decision we might reach.
At the conclusion of the meeting, joint resolutions were agreed by the Gilbert Islands Council of Ministers and the Rabi Council of Leaders representing the Banaban people from which I should like to be permitted to quote: "(1) We and the Banabans are con
cerned for the 'future well-being of our respective peoples when the phosphate mining on Ocean Island is exhausted in two or three years' time. We strongly feel that the Partner Governments (Britain, Australia and New Zealand) have a deep moral obligation towards both of us for our *future economic survival as a people. We therefore resolve that negotiations between us and the three Partner Governments be commenced without any further delay to determine the extent by which some satisfactory and amicable solution can be arrived at so that each may properly discharge their respective responsibilities towards us both.
"(2) The Gilbert Islands Council of Ministers and the Rabi Island Council of Leaders resolve to continue discussing the constitutional relationship of their islands pending the settlement of financial provisions for their future.. . ."
Tebuke Ratan Rabi Council of Leaders, Buckingham Court, 78 Buckingham Gate, London SW1.
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