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Pacific Briefs
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Posted on Oct 27 1999
Almost 300 still missing from ferry sinking
MERAUKE, Indonesia—A rescue team has reported that only 53 of more than 320 passengers aboard the overloaded Bimas Raya II ferry, which sank off southern Irian Jaya last week, have been located.
Fifteen were found dead and 38 others are being treated in Merauke Public Hospital.
The ship began leaking, causing panic among the passengers before it capsized, according to the captain, one of those rescued.
Last August, another overloaded ship, the KM Sembra, also sank in Irian Jaya waters, causing the deaths of 49 people.
Students blame leaders over college shutdown
WAIGANI, Papua New Guinea—Students preparing to leave the closed University of Papua New Guinea outside Port Moresby, are blaming student leaders for mishandling a boycott of classes. The boycott, over a proposed 25 percent increase in university fees, led to administrators terminating the 1999 academic year.
Senior students now will not graduate and all students will have to repeat coursework not completed as a result of the shutdown
Two students were reported injured and facilities damaged at the campus dining hall in fights over the shutdown Sunday.
New anti-guerrilla force
HONIARA, Solomon Islands—Solomon Islands Prime Minister Bartholomew Ulufa’alu has warned that islanders from Malaita province have formed a new anti-Guadalcanal guerilla military force.
After months of ethnic violence on Guadalcanal over land rights, jobs and political power, most Malaitans were forced to resettle in their home province. Ulufa’alu said they are now organizing to seek revenge.
Meanwhile, a police and military contingent from Fiji and Vanuatu has begun arriving in the capital to begin peacekeeping duties.
