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PICs: Sustainable government policies

The constitutions and later development plans of the newly independent Pacific Island countries list the same basic resource use projects that pre-independence plans had with a codicil - how to harvest and sell fish, timber, agricultural products, minerals, labour sustainably, and without harming the environment.

" To conserve and protect the environment, maintain ecological balance, improve the habitat and physical development of Western Samoa."(Western Samoa Development Plan 1987).

"The natural resources sector will continue to expand in a sustainable manner as an economic sector providing at the national level domestic employment, income generation opportunities, domestic food requirements, and export revenue" (Vanuatu Development Plan 1992).

In addition to environmental and economic factors, government policies today show concerns about such issues as social equity (poverty alleviation), and private sector development. For example, the Tuvalu Government intends

"Improvement in the distribution of income through the diversification of the economic base and by enhancing private sector initiative, improving infrastructure, and increasing economic activity without harming the environment" (Tuvalu 1992).