Chief

A chief from the Teouma area, just outside Port Vila, George Natau, said the allegations have arisen after the officers arrested some youths who had been terrorising the area.

He has acknowledged that police brutality cannot be accepted but he said the commissioner must also take into account the rights of the more than one thousand people who live at Teouma.

He said these young people, arrested last Thursday, had been sought by police since last year.

Chief Natau said they have threatened women and children in the public road.

Henri Dokucas Naisseline said the vaccination obligation deprives people of fundamental rights of freedom and respect for human dignity.

The high chief of the Gaumha district on the island of Mare has decided to stop the vaccination drive in all the tribes under his control, suggesting the vaccine is dangerous.

However, he said those who wish to get the vaccine can still get it.

In August, the government launched an inoculation campaign in the mainly Kanak Loyalty Islands, called Vacci'tribs, in the hope of vaccinating 80 percent of the population by January.

The deal gives the chief and his people's group of companies the right to operate the newly completed Lapetasi International Container Terminal located on Ifira Island in the middle of Port Vila's harbour

The chief has assured the government he is confident the companies have the material and expertise to successfully operate the terminal and the company board has already reduced container charges.

The Prime Minister Charlot Salwai congratulated the chief and his people for their generosity.

Paramount chief Maserei, the tribal chief, who initiated Mr Bougeois into the council, says it is because of his historical assistance to his family and village and island.

RNZ reports Mr Bourgeois' late father, Pierre Bourgeois, who was an investor, was also adopted into the chief's family and given the same chiefly name, Maseimata.

The Vaturisu Council of Chiefs, the umbrella organisation of all chiefs of Efate and its offshore islands, has endorsed the move saying it follows the guidelines of Efate's custom governance system.