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PORTLAND OBSERVER
Volume XV Number 42
Augus 21, 1985
25C Copy
Two Sections
Nicaragua:
Technology and development
Zn Hob I othian
A protest organized by POSAF delayed the unload
ing and loading of D u tc h ship N e d llo y d k e m b la at
the Port of Vancouver Sunday The Nedlloyd kem bla
off loaded its cargo of steel, lead nitrate, glass and
dried peaches from South Africa
(Photo Richard J Brownl
To produce more and to make their
lives easier, agricultural laborers in
I bird W orld countries need a lechtto-
logv somewhat more advanced than
wixxlen plows and hand implements,
yet not as complicated or expensive as
modern tractors.
I lies need more advanced tools
whn.h they can help design and build
using inexpensive local materials.
W ithout
such
"appropriate
technology,” small tanners in many
countries are lorced to use tools and
work
methods
unimproved
for
hundreds o l years. I hey remain
locked into a cycle ol poverty and
starvation, unable to advance beyond
subsistence farming
Nicaragua, an extremely poor
country cut o ff from its former source
o f technological wealth in the U.S.,
yet with the spirit to try new ideas, is
making advances with appropriate
technology,
according
to
M ira
Brown.
* Brown, an alternative energy
development worker Irom Boston,
spent three and a half months in N ic­
aragua last summer investigating and
helping with appropriate technology
development A founder and board
member o f the Nicaragua Appropri
ate
Technology Project,
Brown
related her experiences at a meeting
and slide show in Portland recently .
During het travels, Blown said she
was impressed with the ability ol Nic
araguatis to "m ake the most with the
least."
She saw a rope pump, fo r example,
with machetes. Nicaraguans com­
monly live m Imuses with dirt floors,
no running water, no bathrixims, and
no refrigeration, said Brown In addi­
tion, she said, lew Nkaraguaas know
the intricacies o f modern machinery
— how an internal combustion engine
works, fo r example.
One o f Brown's slides showed a
man named Jose smiling as he oper­
ated his new pump. "H is neighbors
were instantly impressed." she said.
,
I
'
v,
b
I
M IR A BROW N
(Photo Kria Altucherl
monly live in houses with d irt floors,
“ They wanted pumps just like
no ru n n in g w a te r, no b a th ro o m s,
Jose's."
and
no re frig e ra tio n , said Brown In
Other appropriate technologies in
a d d itio n , she said, few Nicaraguans
Nicaragua include solar gram dryers,
know the in trica cie s o f m odern
human powered field pumps, w ind­
m achinery — how an internal com
mills to generate electricity and pump
bastion engine works, lo r example,
water, and more efficient wixxlstoves
example.
to make the mam source o f cooking
Countering this situation, she said,
fuel, wcxxl, go farther, said Brown.
is a democratic process built into the
A prune example o f using available
country's agricultural cooperatives
resources is harnessing heat from the
that encourages appropriate techno­
country's volcanoes to generate elec
logy development I aborers who will
trtcity one geothermal plant is
be using the tools lobby for new and
already operating and more are on the
improved designs, she said.
way, she said Town sized hydroelec­
In some cases, o fficia l resistance
tric protects have been built on small
stops
new ideas B ill the U.S backed
streams, she added.
contra war is hampering Nicaragua's
Nicaraguans ate also experimenting
technological development the most,
with producing bio-gas Irom cow, pig
said Brown. Research and develop
and human waste to reduce their de­
merit money is nonexistent, and over
pendence on western o il, according to
85 percent o f the staff at the A p p ro ­
Brown.
priate Technology ( enter has been
Her slides showed (arm workers
mobilized to build new settlements for
plowing with wixxlen plows and town
the 2(X),0(X) Nicaraguans displaced bv
residents cutting four-by-four timbers
the
war, she said.
w ith machetes. N icaraguans c o m ­
Reagan Admn.
considering
eliminating quotas
Cargo unloading delayed
by Nathamal Scoli
The port o f Vancouver's long­
shoremen were prevented
from
unloading the Dutch ship Nedlloyd
kembla by a coalition o f groups
under the umbrella agency o f Port­
landers Organized for South A frican
f reedom (POSAF-).
The Nedlloyd kem bla tied up at
terminal
two,
berth
one
at
a p p ro x im a te ly 9 :30 p .m . S aturday
and d id n 't begin unloading its cargo
o f South A frican steel and glass until
about 6:10 p.m. Sunday, zvuncu.
immediately after the ship docked,
POSAF established a boycott picket
line which prevented longshoremen
from boarding the ship.
V ancouver L o ca l F o u r o f the
Longshorem an’ s U nion called Local
Four fro m P o rtla n d to u n lo a d the
ship Sunday m orning but they were
prevented from hoarding tnc snip oy
the establishment o f the picket line.
A t approximately 10:45 a.m. Sun­
day morning an independent arbitra­
tor ruled that POSAF’ s picket line
was an illegal one Management then
called in longshoremen from Local 21
o f Longview, Washington and I ocal
50 from Astoria, Washington Io work
thc6 p.m shift.
During the day union officials met
with POSAF representatives and an
agreement was reached. In principle,
the agreement said: when the 6 p.m.
crew reports fo r work, POSAF w ill
change its boycott to an inform ational
picket. Thus the longshoremen, many
o f whom were sympathetic to
POSAF’s cause, were freed from
crossing a picket line. POSAF abided
by its agreement and kept its gixxl
faith bargaining intact.
Hen
Priestley,
speaking
for
POSAF, said, "W e held the ship up
until 6 p.m. this alternixin. I think we
have accomplished that effectively.”
Priestly added that the cost o f holding
up the ship would run between
$10,000 and $12,000.
Priestly maintained that POSAF
had
demonstrated
(and
would
continue to demonstrate) that it is
“ economically unfeasible" for ships
carrying South A frican cargo to come
to cither Vancouver's or Portland's
ports.
“ Vancouver and Portland are not
free p o rts ," one bystander said.
One o f POSAF’ s inform ational
sheets was a call from the South A fr i­
can Congress o f Trade Unions
(S A tT U ) to international trade union
movements to impose "im m e d ia te "
action to cut o ff apartheid South
A frica by:
• "Refusing
to
handle
all
maritime, air or land tra ffic to or
from South A fric a .”
• "Refusing the handle any gixxls
to and from South A fric a ."
And in addition to tw o other such
requests, SAC TU said, "T h e South
African Congress o f Trade Unions
call upon all trade unionists to urge
the governments o f their respective
countries
to
impose
immediate
comprehensive mandatory sanctions
against the Pretoria regime."
POSAF’ s renewed vigor against the
racist regime o f South A frica is
evident
by
its
weekly
(each
Wednesday at noon) demonstration
against the krugerrand gold coin at
Columbia Coin, 514 S.W 6th Ave.,
in downtown Portland.
POSAF maintains that it will
continue the noon demonstrations,
complete with the burning o f a
facsimile o f the black passbook all
Black South Africans must carry until
some accord is reached.
POSAF
is
also
considering
maintaining twice weekly demon­
strations at Columbia Coin. I f it does,
the demonstrations w ill most likely be
at noon on both Wednesdays and
Fridays.
by Jerry Garner
Nigel Griffith leads protesters in chants in front of Colum bia Coin The
w eekly protest is against Colum bia Coin for selling the South African
Krugerrand
(Photo Richard J. B rownl
PCC serial levy fails
by 568 votes
Voters turned down Portland
Com m unity College’ s serial levy vote
Tuesday, August 13 by 568 votes I he
levy passed in M ultnom ah, Washing­
ton and Clackamas counties and
failed in Columbia and Yamhill
counties.
Yamhill County used a mail-in
ballot and the college is considering
the possibility o f legal action. A deci­
sion whether or not to appeal Yamhill
C ounty’ s vote w ill be made at the next
board o f director's meeting on Sep­
tember 9
la s t Thursday the Reagan Adm i
nistration announced it was consider
ing a change in the federal govern
ment A ffirm a tive A ction programs
The President's staff has dratted an
executive order that would repeal
requirements that federal contractors
set numerical goals to remedy possible
job discrimination
This program was started by an
executive order issued by then-
Prcsident Lyndon B Johnson in
1965. Under the present A ffirm a tive
Action programs, contractors are
required to hire m inority workers on
federal projects II Reagan signed the
draft, it would rescind Johnson’ s exe­
cutive order.
Such a move w ill certainly anger
civil rights organizations across the
nation, who in the past have accused
the President o f being anti-civil rights
Linda Keene, o f the Portland Urban
I eague, stated that the Urban 1 eague
was "disappointed" the Reagan Ad
m inistration is considering such a
draft.
According to the Department of
la b o r, there arc presently more than
73,(KM) contractors nation wide under
A ffirm a tive Action agreements w ith
the federal government