Five-day delay in Fiji for S.I. Territorials

Press, 11 July 1979, Page 6

Five-day delay in Fiji for S.I. Territorials

The last of 114 South Island Territorial soldiers delayed for five days in Fiji are expected back in Christchurch later today.

Sixty soldiers arrived at Christchurch Airport yesterday in an R.N.Z.A.F. Andover, having arrived at Auckland on Monday. The rest were expected last evening. They were due back before the week-end, but the Hercules which was to have brought them from Fiji was delayed “for technical reasons,” and was further delay last evening. The Australian Associated Press had reported from Suva that the stranded men were discontented and had been affected by an outbreak of diarrhoea. Several of the men are believed to have complained that they would lose their jobs by not appearing for work on Monday. One said that his wife had left him and he could not get home, while another had to pay his own fare back on Saturday to attend his engagement party. One man’s four-week-old baby was in hospital suffering from whooping cough, and another had been due to appear in court on Monday.

Fourteen of the soldiers were said to have gone down with diarrhoea after eating in Suva’s back-street cafes, to supplement the food they had eaten at the Royal Fiji Military Forces at Queen Elizabeth Barracks. Three were admitted to the barracks hospital. One soldier was quoted as saying that while the Fiji military had gone to a lot of trouble over hospitality, the “tucker” had not been up to the average New Zealand standard.

The delay in flying the men back to New Zealand had been unavoidable, said an R.N.Z.A.F. spokesman. All five of the Air Force’s Hercules had been required

elsewhere, or were not in flya ing condition. Besides the aircraft which had mechanical problems, another was undergoing a complete refit, a third was being repaired, a fourth was at Singapore, and the fifth was being used to support the South Pacific Forum conference at Honiara and the Gilbert Islands independence celebrations.

The jobs of Territorial soldiers were protected by law in such circumstances, said an- Army spokesman in Christchurch. “They cannol legally be penalised foil something over which they have no control,” he said, “Besides, one would imagine that most employers would be sympathetic.” Problems such as those quoted were bound to occur among any group of soldier* overseas.

The men had been given several days extra leave in Suva during the overdue period, rather than resuming their training in the jungle.