Tanna

The Vanuatu Daily Post quoted Rita Kelema, who is seven months pregnant, as saying the majority of locally grown food has been damaged.

Images show some houses badly damaged.

Trucks are taking water to impacted residents and the French Army has been reponding there, handing out essential supplies. Australia and New Zealand have also provided aid.

Meanwhile, Save The Children Vanuatu is working to ensure the thousands of people affected by the cyclones get vital assistance.

The alert status there has been raised to Level 3.

The Minister of Health, Bruno Leingkone, has announced new public health emergency rules, restricting travel between the islands of Tanna, Erromango and Aneityum.

Anyone travelling domestically into or out of Tanna, Erromango and Aneityum either by sea or by air must comply with the approved travel guidelines.

The ruling doesn't apply to those requiring medical treatment in Port Vila or Luganville, the transporting cargoes or materials or equipment for essential services and people providing essential services.

The Department of Agriculture and Rural Development has offered free service of tractor to plough the lands of the potatoes farmers.

The farmers also received over 600 bags of seed potatoes of the Sebago and the white star varieties.

Assistant Agriculture for West Tanna, Issac Iaruel said a total of over 4,000 potato seeds were planted by West Tanna farmers alone.

“All the potato seeds are planted out on farms and will be ready for harvest on August 2021.”

Over 600 bags of seed potatoes of the Sebago and the white star varieties were distributed to the farmers on Tanna and they planted more than 111,600 seed potatoes..

A total of over 4,000 seed potatoes were planted by West Tanna farmers alone.

Potato farmers from West Tanna are currently planting seed potatoes that were provided by the DARD in May under the EDF 11 Fruits and Vegetables project.

The federation stated “VVF has decided to suspend all activities at the Stade courts in Port Vila through the current 3-day lockdown and until the all-clear is given by the relevant authorities.”

Meanwhile, the Vanuatu beach volleyball women’s team and the VVF president Debbie Masauvakalo are having a team bonding tour in Tanna.

“The objective was to uplift the skills of young farmers and practice their farming knowledge,” says Peter Koah, the Association Director of Farm Support Association.

“The nurseries built will support the young farmers to produce off season vegetables to restore the income generating activities during COVID-19 and volcano ash falling training gaps.”

Peter Koah said the training was conducted by the Napil Rural Training Centre as hands on exercise in the respective location identified by young farmers.

The group met a visiting government delegation this week, led by Tanna MP and Prime Minister Bob Loughman.

The Vanuatu Daily Post reported the petition calls for the extension of the runway to accomodate larger aircraft and for the installation of runway lights.

The group, which gave land to the government to build the airport, said it wanted to see more development that benefitted the island.

The prime minster said the government would decide how best to develop the airport, as it had already paid compensation for the land.

The Health Department has strictly recommended this process following an investigation into reports of contaminated OKI tinned fish that were purchased as part of food rations from a shop in Port Vila.

The tinned fish was sent to families in Tanna, who were affected by ash-fall from the Yasur volcano.

Another recommendation is for authorized officers from the Port Vila Municipal Council (PVMC) and Ministry of Health (MoH) to confiscate and destroy all OKI tinned fish from that particular shops and others that have them on shelves.

The Health Department has strictly recommended this process following an investigation into reports of contaminated OKI tinned fish that were purchased as part of food rations from a shop in Port Vila.

The tinned fish was sent to families in Tanna, who were affected by ash-fall from the Yasur volcano.

Another recommendation is for authorized officers from the Port Vila Municipal Council (PVMC) and Ministry of Health (MoH) to confiscate and destroy all OKI tinned fish from that particular shops and others that have them on shelves.

There are concerns that the fish contents in the cans are contaminated.

The Secretary General of the TAFEA Provincial Government Council, Joe Iautim said the fish in some cans appeared to be no longer fresh.

Mr Iautim said that out of 80 cartons of a particular brand of tinned fish sent to Tanna, 60 have already been distributed with 20 cartons still in storage.

He said they have discovered that some of them in storage are also already contaminated. They have been removed and destroyed.