HELP FOR NORTH BORNEO

Press, Volume LXXXIX, Issue 27226, 18 December 1953, Page 13

HELP FOR NORTH BORNEO

Official’s Talks In New Zealand REPAIR OF WAR-TIME DEVASTATION When he is in New Zealand on five months’ leave, the Attorney-General of North Borneo (Mr C. E. Purchase, Q.C.), will discuss with the Department of External Affairs how possible New Zealand assistance to North Borneo may best be used. Mr Purchase, who practised as a lawyer in Christchurch before he joined the Colonial Legal Service in 1940, said in Christchurch yesterday that there was no doubt that, with the possible exception of Malta, North Borneo had been the most devastated part of the whole Empire in the Sec-

ond World War. The country had been literally bombed out. As a result of the fighting and particularly the bombing, hardly any pre-war buildings had been left standing in the main towns, and production had been brought to a standstill. The economy of the country was largely agricultural, and depended on the rubber industry, said Mr Purchase. It had consequently been much affected by fluctuations in the price of rubber.

The period of high rubber prices had given the country some revenue with which to begin reconstruction, said Mr Purchase, out the recent drop in prices had left North Borneo in a difficult financial position. However, production of hemp, which had been introduced commercially by the Japanese before the war, and big forestry developments had helped to bolster the economy in the last three years. Educational Assistance The Colombo Plan was proving of very great value to North Borneo, said Mr Purchase. At present the emphasis in the’country was on education in its broadest sense. Education in the schools had come to a complete standstill during the Japanese occupation, with the result.that persons of the age group which should now be taking an important part in professions, industry, and commerce, were not available. Those who were capable of absorbing any type of* education that would nelp in the rehabilitation of the colony were being given the opportunity of either learning from experts sent to the country under the Colombo Plan, or in some cases by goinr' abroad on scholarships. North Borneo was also indebted to the World Health Organisation and other international organisations for substantial aid in supplying capital equipment and training thejpeople to take advantage of this help; said Mr Purchase. One of the largest projects of this kind was a survey of sanitation problems \in the main towns by a team of engineers. New Zealand was playing its part in assisting North Borneo, said Mr Purchase. Three New Zealanders had been working in the country on educational projects and at least three men from North Borneo were studying in New Zealand. One was studying law at Victoria University College, and two were studying accountancy and commerce at Auckland.

Mr Purchase is a son of the late Mr J. E. Purchase, a former principal of the Christchurch Teachers’ College. He was born at Ashburton, and educated at the Christchurch Boys’ High School and Canterbury University College. Subsequently, he practised law in Christchurch for several years till 1940, when fte left to join the Colonial Legal Service in Uganda. In 1947, he went to North Borneo, soon after the administration of ( the country had been handed over to the Colonial Office by the British North Borneo Chartered Company. His wife and a daughter, aged eight years, arrived in New Zealand in September. Another daughter is a pupil at Rangiruru Presbyterian Girls’ SchooL