Ambae Island

Vanuatu’s Ambae volcano remains at Alert level 2

The department said volcanic activity consists of emission of steam and explosions of wet tephra ejected above the lake surface but confined within the caldera.

Volcanic hazards remain at the summit area and creeks (e.g., remobilization of remaining ash from 2017 and 2018 eruption and current activity).

This danger zone (Danger Zone A) is about 2 km radius from the 2017-2018 active vents. An additional danger zone is within areas of flowing creeks during heavy rain.

Vanuatu MP for Ambae Island quits, 12 days before term ends

The Vanuatu Daily Post reports Jay Ngwele resigned on 10 January in order to receive his gratuity payment before 22 January.

Mr Ngwele said he intended to use the gratuity to help people in his electorate.

As a candidate in the next election, he would be prevented by law from doing this, if the gratuity was paid after the term ended.

Mr Ngwele said people on Ambae were still struggling to cope with the impact of their island's volcanic eruptions.

Its population of about 11,000 was evacuated in 2017 and again in 2018, to nearby islands.

Vanuatu Government services on Ambae to be restored

The council met on 11 December and also agreed to a continued emphasis on second home and safe shelter options outside of Ambae.

The COM approved that all Ministries and Departments to immediately recommence programms and services on Ambae to pre-disaster operation levels in-line with Government policy requirements.

Likewise, development partners and NGOs humanitarian assistance on Ambae is welcome for the recovery and continued development of the Island;

Ambaeans told not to go back to their island

The state of emergency on Ambae was lifted on Monday but the Manaro volcano remains at alert level two on the five stage scale.

A government press release said people should not go back to the island and that chiefs of Ambae would be held responsible for members of their communities that returned.

Ambaeans should concentrate their efforts on building a second home on a neighbouring island, it said.

Government workers will not be sent back to Ambae because their safety cannot be guaranteed.

Ambae evacuees wait for permission to return

About 10,000 Ambaeans were evacuated from the island about four months ago due to volcanic activity and have been living on neighbouring islands, including Santo and Maewo.

RNZ Pacific understands the Vanuatu Council of Ministers will meet today to decide whether to send Ambaeans back to the island.

The government's state of emergency has ended however, the island might not be safe for occupation.

The Manaro volcano on Ambae remains at alert level two, which means an eruption is possible.

Vanuatu's Ambae Island completely evacuated

The director general of the climate change ministry, which is responsible for disaster management, says all the island's 10,000 residents are now on Maewo or Santo.

The order to abandon the island came from the government a month ago, after the eruption from the island's volcano re-intensified, blanketing the island in ash and toxic fumes.

Jesse Benjamin said the government had evacuated more than 3000 people to Santo, and 2,600 people are now on Maewo.

Mr Benjamin said the rest of the people evacuated themselves.

 

Vanuatu Red Cross helps in evacuation progress

Vanuatu Red Cross Society says soon it will deploy its teams of staff and Volunteers to Maewo, to assist the displaced families from Ambae by building additional shelters.

“The VRCS proposed plan puts emphasis on Shelter, and our emergency response plan is to build additional shelters by using tarpaulins that were already distributed to beneficiaries; also  we will be doing awareness on shelter  ” said Augustin Garae – Disaster Management Coordinator at Vanuatu Red Cross.

Vanuatu Pentecost buy water by the bucket

Parts of both Vanuatu islands have been blanketed in ash from the latest eruption of the Manaro volcano on Ambae.

The government has a mandatory evacuation of the Ambaeans to Maewo, though some are choosing, at their own expense, to go to Santo or Port Vila.

Our Vanuatu correspondent Godwin Ligo, who works with the Daily Post, said water sources are all polluted with ash but in most villages there are households that have substantial water tanks and they are now selling their water.

Warning for Ambae people moving to Santo

The government has ordered the mandatory evacuation of Ambae, where crops have been smothered and water supplies contaminated.

The government has reached an agreement with the nearby island of Maewo, where chiefs have agreed to accept the Ambaeans and set aside land.

But many Ambaeans want to go to Santo, the country's biggest island

The prime minister has said Ambaeans who wish to move to Santo or another island can do so but at their own cost.

Vanuatu Red Cross gets survival kits to Ambae volcano victims

The island has been suffering the effects of a volcanic eruption that began in September last year and intensified earlier this month.

The government decided at the weekend everyone on the island would have to move to neighbouring Maewo.

But the Ambaeans are reportedly reluctant to go there and instead want to be moved to Santo.

In the meantime the Red Cross' Dickinson Tevi said the charity had been continuing to give aid to the many who have been displaced.