Vanuatu chief

Chief Mol Torvaka Lima Tirsupe has promised such an apology after he arrived late to welcome 50 West Papuan delegates to the Chiefs Nakamal and the facility was locked.

The chief has described the scenario as totally shameful and lacking customary protocol.

He said he thought the ceremony was to being at at nine o'clock but it was changed to seven o'clock without his knowledge.

The West Papuans are in Port Vila for the first summit of the United Liberation Movement for West Papua.

Flights to Lajmoli were suspended in 2007 and the only way to reach the area is by copra boat or speed boat which takes six hours from the city of Luganville.

The chief, Seni Mao Tirsupe, who is also the chair of the Malvatumauri National Council of Chiefs, said when a patient from his region urgently needed medical treatment in Luganville Hospital the only solution was death.

He told the Daily Post that a young mother lost her new born baby last month because it took too long to get them to hospital by boat.

Chief Viraleo said this stretch of land comprises what he called the Global Harmonious City.

The chief also heads an organisation on Pentecost called the Melanesian Global Institute where students can study custom.

He has called on other chiefs to consider setting up towns and cities on their islands, to safeguard the principles of what he calls "self-determination in a truly sovereign state".

Chief Viraleo, who is on bail, was first arrested along with a group of his people for alleged criminal offences on Pentecost last year.