Vanuatu

Calo said Kalsakau has only been in his post for six months and to table a motion of no confidence against him now was not fair.

He said the PM needed to be given more time to prove that he could perform.

Kalsakau's government has had to pay millions of vatu for the wrongful terminations of the former civil servants, Calo said.

These included the Director-General of Justice Dorosday Kenneth, former Public Service Commission Chairman Martin Mahe and former Public Utilities Ministry Director-General Harrison Luen.

According to the Vanuatu Daily Post newspaper, the scheduled date for the debate is set for this Friday, May 19.

The Vanuatu parliament met briefly last Friday to start its first ordinary session of 2023.

Speaker Seoule Simeon clarified since this is an ordinary session, the motion has been deemed acceptable due to the presence of nine signatures endorsing it.

Among the signatories is the leader of the opposition Bob Loughman, who moved the motion, and Marc Ati, who has seconded it.

Meanwhile, AS Pirae made an emphatic start to their Group B campaign, powering to a 3-0 win over New Caledonia's Tiga Sport in the capital, scoring all three goals in a first half blitz.

RNZ Pacific reports Hekari, who were champions in 2010, scored two second half goals to repel the challenge of the Vanuatu team in front of a vibrant home crowd of nearly 6000.

A spirited appeal for handball in the Hekari penalty area in the 36th minute threatened to be the defining moment of the first half, but the home town pleas for a penalty were dismissed by the referee.

SPC’s Regional Director for Melanesia, Mia Rimon, said the project will be a game changer by providing the specific highly skilled training and resources needed to revise, hone, and roll out robust systems of accountability and transparency in the Public Service of Vanuatu.

All public servants will have new fit-for-purpose job descriptions that will be the basis for recruitment, succession planning, performance management and work planning.”

Martin Mahe, Chair of PSC Vanuatu said there is an urgent need to professionalise the commission.

The Office of the Director General for Trade and Commerce participated in the event that was hosted by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission in Sydney’s Darling Harbour from 8-12 May 2023.

The Conference has full participation from ICPEN member countries including Pacific Island Countries in consumer & competition authorities and government representatives.

It is timely that the Vanuatu Parliament recently passed the amendment to the Price Monitoring and Consumer Affairs Act as an enforcement agency for pricing and consumer issues under MFEM.

Oceania’s premier men’s club football tournament is being hosted in the country for the first time with Group B matches played in the capital city Port Vila and Group A matches on the Island of Santo in Luganville.

The Vanuatu Football Association has been in a race against time to get the VFF Freshwater Stadium in Port Vila and Soccer City Stadium in Luganville ready for the tournament after preparations had been hit by the devastation caused by tropical cyclones earlier this year.

The Minister’s delegation, which comprises his wife, Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (DARD) Antoine Ravo, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Vanuatu Agriculture College (VAC) Peter Napwatt, First Secretary of the Embassy of Vanuatu in Beijing Osborne Taseru, First Political Advisor (PA) David Gibson, and Minister’s Private Secretary Vincent Kapalu arrived in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, on Tuesday.

The Director of Fisheries did not join the delegation due to in-country duties.

Over the past few weeks, the club was trained and coached by Head Coach Robert Yelou and three additional coaches from different nationalities, who came to assist the team with the preparation in Australia.

Head Coach Yelou thanked the coaches for their support and hoped that one day they will meet again in Vanuatu.

“Two weeks was all that we had to prepare in Australia for the most competitive tournament, the OFC Champions League.

Emelee told PM Kalsakau he felt unable to continue as a minster but intended to stay on as a backbencher.

RNZ Pacific reports Kalsakau has appointed Rick Tchamako Mahe as the new Internal Affairs Minister, while the Santo MP, Gaetan Pikioune, takes over his old post as the Minister of Health.

Photo file Port Vila waterfront

Indonesia will bring this humanitarian assistance on a My Indo Airline B737-800 cargo aircraft, which will depart from Soekarno-Hatta International Airport. 

Indonesia will also send a 14-membered humanitarian mission to Vanuatu with members coming from the Coordinating Ministry for Cultural Affairs, Foreign Affairs Ministry, the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB), and the State Intelligence Agency (BIN). This humanitarian mission will fly on a B737-800 Garuda plane.