( LEGISLATIVE LIBRARY, PARLIAMENT sb [LOL RSS coup. 77/78 - ‘TERRACE-KITIMAT rae AI ——. -_— ‘ . . VaveLX4 - RUPERT STEEL & SALVAGE LTD. } ie : we buy , .. COPPER BRASS a ALL METALS & BATTERIES | e an MON. - SAT. | 7 | OPEN TIL 6 p.m. | | Location Seal Cove Phone 624-5632 t Volume 72 No, 243 20c Monday, December 48, 1978 L 5 -erease drew ABU DHABI (AP) — The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries an-: nounced Sunday it will raise the price of crude oil by 14.5 per cent in four steps during 1979, beginning with a five- per-cent increase Jan. 1, The unexpectedly steep in- immediate sharp reaction in the United States. In Washington, a White House ‘spokesman said the increase, the largest since the days of the 1973-74 Arab oil embargo, will hurt efforts to maintain world economic recovery and reduce in- Storm pounds city VICTORIA (CP) — Winds gusting to more than 100 kilometres an hour ripped across southwestern British Columbia Saturday night, crashing trees onto parked cars, causing power outages and forcing cancellation of fi sailings. “The storm brought down trees and power lines over a wide area, wrecking at least two vehicles and scatteri building materials aro the downtown area. Ferry service between Vancouver Island and the mainland was not affected by winds Saturday nighl, but the first three B.C. Ferries Corp. sailings Sunday morning between nearby Swartz Bayand Tsawwassen, south of Vancouver, were cancelled. A ferries spokesman said the eancellations caused only minor lineups as traffic was light. The winds forced sailing cancellations Saturday night and Sunday morning by the Mayne Queen between Swartz Bay and Salt Spring Island. The 36-metre luxury yacht Marabelle dragged its an- chor and was nearly driven onto rocks in suburban Oak Bay. In separate incidents, a large tree crashed onto a car and another tree destroyed a van in a hospital parking lot. Trees were blown over power lines in numerous areas, setting small fires in some cases and causing lengthy outages. The gale tare 100-pound panels of sheet metai off a partly-com- Pleted bank building and Scattered them through part of the downtown area. In Vancouver, where damage was less severe, winds reached 65 km-h at Lions Gate Bridge and cawed several power out- ages throughout the Van- couver area and up to Powell River, 180 kilometres north. Three found BELLA COOLA, B.C, (CP) — Three persons were found alive Saturday with the wreck of their single-engine aircraft which crashed in a snowstorm Friday while landing at the airfield near this north coast British Columbia village. Aspokesman al the rescue ¢o-ordination centre in Victoria said a civilian helicopter pilot spotted the ne near the runway where t crashed after overshooting the strip following a flight from Prince George, B.C. The! field is not equipped with “agar, AI were residents of Bella Coola. A hospital spokesman said pilot Leo Muraski was in good condition with a broken collarbone, Passenger Mary Rowe was in satisfactory condition with a broken hip. Her eightyear-old son Jason Rysted escaped injury. flation and is not warranted by market conditions, “We regret this OPEC decision and hope it will be reconsidered before th= next steps take effect," said the statement, .issued Sunday while U.S. President Carter was at Camp David, Md. Alfred Kahn, Carter's chief inflation-fighter, told a reporter in Washington he is “shocked and very, very disappointed” by the action. “I think that the OPEC countries may themselves come to regret so sharp an increase in view of the harmful effect that it will have onthe world economy," Kahn said. “You can’t enact a 15-per-cent increase in the price of the world’s most important fuel and not ex- pect the customers on whom you depend to suffer and that suffering to reflect back on Ou. OPEC produces more than 20 per cent of the world’s petroleum and accounts for 37 per cent of the oil con- sumed by the U.S, The group announced last June its intentio to raise the price of crude oil at the end of this year. The basic price, $12.70 U.S, a barrel of Arabian light crude oil, has been frozen since early 1977. No doubts, winter’s here OPEC's secretary- general, Ali Jaidah, said the price will be raised to $14.54 by Oct, 1, an increase of 14.5 per cent. The five-per-cent increase Jan, 1,will bring the price to $13.33. It will be followed by an increase April 1 of 3.8 per cent to $13.84, July 1 of 2.3 per cent to $14.16 and Oct. 1 of 2.7 per cent to the final $14.54 figure. The price of Saudi light crude is the standard on which prices of other types of oil are based. The OPEC oil ministers, who decided on the increases at a two-flay meeting in this Persian Gulf emirate, will Wale Lt My NOL De as COMI outside here as when Rod Taylor took this photo at the foot of Great Bear Glacier, it OPEC announces crude oil pr convene again late next year to decide whether te increase the price in 1980, The over-all 1979 increase is expected to enrich the OPEC countries’ treasuries by as much as $20 billion. Jaidah, reading a commu- nique issued by the 13 ministers at the conclusion of their meeting, said the ‘increases are designed to counter losses the oil producers have incurred be- cause of inflation and the depreciating U.S. dollar, on which oil prices are based. Tf significant inflation and currency instability continue next year, he said, the oil 8 aetin! WIMer and that white stuff looks. like it will stay. WOLF PROBLEM District reps concerned The problem of wolves killing livestock in the Regional District of Kitimat- Stikine area continues tobe a concern with the regional Bobby Ball, director from Telegraph Creek, says that when there is a healthy balance between the preditor board and it has decided to _and the prey the wolves stay invite the fish and wildlife Yaway from settled area but biologist from Smithers to a future meeting to try to make known its concerns, Marty Allen, the regional board director from Kispiox, says that wolves have been a problem for the last 30 years t the fish and wildlife branch will not hear any input from people who are not biologists even though they have lived with the wolf problem most of their lives. Allen attended a meeting heid In Vancouver in late November by the Sierra Club as the regional districts Tepresenlative but he was not happy with the outcome because several biologists who attended claimed it was not wolves that were killing the livestocks. Alice Chen-Wing, director for Lakelse Lake-Usk- Kitimat Village aregfs, said that perhaps the biologists thought rabbits were killing the livestock and the regional board should begin pressuring the fish and wildlife department to take some action on stopping the livestock from being killed by whatever manner they were being killed. “If they find out rabbits are killing the livestock then they will be forced to take action,’’ she sald, Allen said that ranchers must catch the wolves in the act of killing cattle before they can get action. He said after the many years he has been forced to put up with the problem he knows a wolf track from a dog rtack but that isn't good enough for the biologists. ‘‘They have probably never seen a wolf themselves....which makes us the real experts in this matter,” said Allen, there are more wolves that food for them in the wilderness. He said that a_ poison program was introduced in the 1950s but this was halted after trappers protested because the poison was killing off other animals. Allen said that the Sierra Club agreed tha there should be game management but it wanted data on how many wolves are in the northwest before it decided what agreement it would support about the wolf problem. ONE PREDICTS U.S. move may lead to two China merger TOKYO (AP) — A Com- munist Chinese legislator predicted Sunday that reunification talks between mainland China and Taiwan would begin soon and a peaceful union of the long- tme enemies could occur in 1978, a Japanese news service reported, In another report from Pe- king, the chief U.S. diplomat in China, Leonard Wood- cock, was quoted ag telling journalists the United States “will be pushing as fast as possible to reach sat- isfactory agreements” with China in trade, shipping, civil air transportation and other areas. President Carter an- nounced Friday night the United States on Jan, 1 will sever its diplomatic relations with the Nationalist Local RCMP have advised all businesses involved in the sale, purchase, repair, manufacture, ete., of firearms and ammunition ‘to be licensed in ac- cordance with the new gun laws coming into effect on Jan.1. Any businesses that come within the scope of the new law that have not received correspondence from the chief provincial firearms officer outlining the policy and requirements should write for this AMNESTY STILL IN EFFECT — correspondence to ensure they are duly licensed by Jan. 1, 1978, . Businessmen should wri to the Chief Provincial Firearms Officer, Criminal Justice Division, Ministry of the Attorney General, Vic- torla, B.C., VBV 1X4, The RCMP have said that the firearms am- nesty recall program 1s to continue for the registration of restricted weapons or. for the disposal of firearms people want to turn in. Chinese government on Taiwan and establish relations with Peking in- stead. The prediction that the two Chinas would reunite was made by Chen Yi-sung, a member of the Natlonal People’s Congress who formerly represented Tai- wan, in a report from Peking by Japan’s Kyodo news service. Chen emphasized he was expressing his personal views. producers may reconsider their prices, The producing countries “noted with great anxiety the rate of inflation and the dollar's depreciation in the last two years,” he aaid. The world oil trade uses the dollar as its currency, so the decline of its value against other currencies has cut into OPEC revenues. Specialists at the con- ference estimated that the real purchasing power of a barrel of oil has slumped by 38 per cent in the last two years. Jaidah said the OPEC ministers decided “‘to assist the world economy to future growth” and not ask for an oil price increase that would totally compensate their countries for their losses, Saudi Arabia's oil minister, Sheik Abraed Zaki ‘Yamani, who had argued for asmaller increase, said he is “not so happy" with the price increase, _ But he said developments in world oi] markets and recent reductions in Iranian oil output have made it “very difficult to argue for a smal] dose,'’ Yamani, representing OPEC's big- gest producer, now has ice hikes called for a freeze on oil princes in 1980. Price hawks within the cartel, such as Iraq and Libya, had pushed publicly for increases up to 25 per cent, but sources at the conference said the two called for only a 15-per-cent increase when the meeting got down to business Saturday. More moderate members, ‘led by Saudi Arabia, sought an increase of five to i0 per cent. The prices doves also argued for the staggered increase to lessen the impact on consuming countries. Tehran quieter, workers return TEHRAN (AP) — Striking workers began returning to their jobs in Iran's oilfields Sunday, immediately doubling production that had been cut to a trickle during their two-week — anti- government walkout, oll in- dustry sources said, . Tehran was quiet Sunday and there were no reports of violence in the provinces. But tension was evident as anti-Shah orthodox Moslems prepared for a national] day of mourning today. Exiled Shi'ite Moslem leader Ayatullah Khomaini had called for the day of mourning to honor those killed in 11 -months of violence “suched off by growing popular oppasition to Shah Mchammad Reza Pahlavi's rule. The 78-year-old Khomaini, now residing outside Paris, is in the forefront of the Shah's religious opposition, which believes the monar- ch's modernization program is .eroding the over- whelmingly Moslem country’s traditional values, The shah's political foes want an end to his authoritarian rule, to government corruption and to the activities of the SAVAK secret police. Oil industry sources said production was up to more than two million barrels Sunday after having plunged to a low of 1.2 million barrels a day during the strike. Normal daily production is six million barrels. They said most workers appeared to be returning because of a tough new stand taken by the Shah's month- old, militaryled government. Gen, Gholam-Reza Azhai, prime minister and head of the armed forces, had said strikers would be fired if they did not return to work, Elite military units were sent to southwestern Iran's Khuzestan oil region to take over the oilfields if neces- The government said almost 92 per cent of the striking workers had returned, but induatry sources said they could not verify that figure. The strike has cost Iran's treasury more than $1 billion and has created severe shortages of heating fuel and kerosene, forcing the government’ to import Supplies from abroad. LONDON (Reuter) — Bombe exploded in five English cities early Sunday, injuring nine people and raising fears da Christmas offensive in Britain by Irish Republican Army guer- rillas. . The blasts rocked the centres of Liverpool, Manchester, Coventry Southampton after mi sad shorily Saturday night. The attacks followed a warning by Scotland Yard last Friday about possible IRA bombings in stores during the bustling Christmas season, (In Belfast, two Nor- thern Ireland prison guards escaped injury Sunday when a misfired under one of their cars and the other’s home was raked by machine-gun fire which narrowly missed a sleeping baby.) Republican sources in Belfast said earlier this month the violent IRA Provisional wing was nning:a firebomb blitz on the British mainiand te coincide with a new af- fensive in Northern Treland. IRA XMAS BOMBS START Bristol, In the last two months, hundreds of stores in about 15 towns have been the target of arsonists. Police here believe Sunday’s blasts, all within 90 minutes of each other in five widely-sepa- rate sites, indicate that a wellorganized team of extremists is responsible and that more bomba are - the worst of the explosions, seven people were injured by flying glass when a bomb ripped out the windows of a big department store in downtown Bristol. In Liverpool, 240 kilometres to the north, two customers in a Greek club were slightly injured when a bomb shattered the front of the building. Five minutes later a second Liverpool bomb smashed store fronts In a Merity eight people h ty-eight people have been killed and about 1,000 injured by IRA bombs and bullets on the British mainland since 1971, The last IRA attack on the mainland came in early 1977, when 13 in- cen devices were set off in London department stores. . Murder claimed in cult deaths CHICAGO (AP) — The Guyana government's top pathologist has told The Tribune he believes that murder, not suicide, claimed. more than 700 of the 911' persons who died at the People’s Temple in Jonestown, Guyana, *! do not believe there were ever more than 200 persens who died vaolun- tarily,"” said Dr. C. Leslie Mootoo, chief medical ex- aminer and first doctor at the scene of the Nov. 15 tragedy. Moctoo, Interviewed in his home in Georgetown, Guyana, said he suspects but cannot prove that cult leader Jim Jones did not commit suicide. He ssid Jones’s body was too badly decompaced to - determine exactly how the cult leader died, "I just don’t buy the suicide (theory),'’ he said. ‘1 don’t believe (Jones) was a megalomanic as people have sald. 1 do believe he was power-drunk, but a person like that would never kill himself.” SKEENA HEALTH UNIT Still some questions Regional District of Kitimat-Stiklne Hospital Board is uncertain what the B.C. Buildings Corporation (BCBC) wants te do about opening tenders for the Skeena Health and Human Resources Centre proposed for construction in Terrace. John Pousette said at the board meeting on Saturday that BCBC- informed him that tenders would be opened in Victoria on Jan. 18 but it apparently wants the regional district ta let the contract out on Jan, 26. Kitimat Mayor George Thom, a director on the board, sald that since the regional district has had no input into the location of the Proposed site It should let BCEC do its own work, Bob Cooper, an alderman in Terrace and a director on the board, says that if BCBC Just wants touse the regional district office to open tenders there should be no problems, He suggested the ad- ministration ask for clarification. The site chosen is on Kalum St, near the Willows Senior Citizens appartment complex. Alice Chen-Wing (Usk- Lakelse Lake-Kitimaat Village-Kemano) was ap-: pointed to represent the regional district on the Union Board of Health. Joa Banyay (Kitimat) was appointed to the Kitimat Genera! Hospital board and Chen-Wing was appointed to the Mills Memorial Hospital board.