SiGhKAH also a way nesia. -4— to serve a national interest other than that . of Micro! A continuing source of concern by the Congress is land, which many people see as the key to development in Micronesia. Land use and tenure has traditionally been a source of dispute in the Trust Territory. Of course, before the domination of foreign pow- ers, there were always traditional systems to handle these disputes The Administering Authority continues to be the biggest landholder in the Trust Territory, controlling from one percent of the land in one district up to 50 and 60 percent in other districts. of the continuing land problems are insufficient payment for Some indefinite use by the government, slowness in land registration, and the need for the return of land which has been retained for over 25 years. In addition, there are some land cases bogged down in the court system--some of which are over 10 years old. There is no doubt that. such public lands could be used more. productively. When sucn land could or would be open for private use and ownership is not known. political status, Now the issue is strongly linked to that of It is enough, however, to note that if the Administering Authority was sincerely interested in economic development related to land, more should have been done to show for it. , Like the 1973 U.N. Visiting Mission, our Congress is in favor of finding more ways to channel more capital and credit to the private sector of our economy. While we are grateful that through Economic Development Loan Fund program, some capital money has been made available to selected individuals despite the unwieldy procedures of the program; much more should be done in this area. And here, I should like to note that the Annual Report of the Administering Authority to this Council credits the United States Congressional support to this fund of $600,000 marine resources development fund. This money was actually appropriated by the Congress of Micronesia in 1971. The report also neglects to give the Congress of Micronesia credit for the $500,000 marine resources development fund. The Bank of Micronesia, created by the Congress of Micronesia in 1972, now peing projected to operate:as a development bank should provide further impetus to getting capital seed money into the private sector of the Micronesian economy. Development of Micronesia's air and sea transportation remain a matter of serious concern as noted by this year's VisitingMission. The Trust Territory is extremely dependent upon such transportation because of its geography. At present field trip schedules are unreliable because of an ancient fleet of ships which need replacement. We also have grave doubts about the fate of the shipping line, Transpac, which serves the islands from Japan and from the West Coast. The operation of this line has great impact on our economy. This fact of life was pointed out in the Congress of Micronesia's report on shipping in 1970, which recommenc ed greater government participation in shipping operations. This has been done in the past. Unfortunately, there still remains great doubt as to whether TransPacific Lines can maintain adequate ser- vice and its solvency. The situation deteriorated recently with the loss of two charter ships. The company still faces debts which it took over from the former organization. -more. was OAR CHV ES POk Per: