Vanuatu

The loan and grant agreement is for the Vanuatu Energy Access Project.

The ADB's James Lynch said the project will deliver an increased supply of clean, renewable electricity to households in Malekula and Espiritu Santo and have a positive effect on rural livelihoods.

RNZI reports about 75 percent of Vanuatu's population lives in rural areas and have limited access to electricity nationwide, with the electrification rate at just 33 percent.

Where electricity is available, it is mostly generated from diesel and other fossil fuels.

At the moment, there are no clear instruments in place to address the needs of disaster-caused displaced citizens as their entitlement to resettle and rehabilitate, said the Disaster Operations Manager, Peter Korisa.

“The policy has been formulated and is yet to be approved by the Council of Ministers (COM). Each province was consulted on the policy.

“It will become effective once approved,” he said.

Vanuatu's government has ordered a mass evacuation of the island of Ambae, after about a week of escalating volcanic observations of Monaro Voui.

A state of emergency was declared on 26 September.

All 11,000 residents of Ambae - five percent of Vanuatu's population - have been told to evacuate the island. Initially, islanders moved to shelters on Ambae but the government then ordered a mandatory island-wide evacuation.

The government's ordered the evacuation of the entire island, as the volcano - Manaro Voui - blankets the island in ash and acid rain.

The head of the island's provincial government, Georgewin Garae, on Saturday said about 500 people had already evacuated themselves, either by chartering planes or boats.

But he said the majority of the island's 11,000 people were waiting for the government evacuation, which will start in earnest tomorrow, with ferries starting to arrive today.

Earlier this week Mr Kilman suggested that the government was not being consistent with its foreign policy.

Vanuatu governments have long been vocal globally on the issues of human rights abuses in Indonesia's Papua region and the West Papuan self-determination cause.

But according to Mr Kilman, who is currently an opposition MP, Vanuatu was not taking the same stands with similar issues in other parts of the world.

The volcanic alert level at the Manaro Voui crater was upgraded to level four last week with the Geohazards Department warning of flying rocks, volcanic gas, acid rain and ash falls.

At least 7000 of the islands population of more than 11,000 have been relocated from danger zones around the volcano to evacuation centres on the western and eastern sides of the island.

Up to 20 percent of Ambae residents are thought to have already left for nearby islands but the government says it wants all of them off as the eruption is not abating.

The government yesterday decided to evacuate the whole population of Ambae, as the island's volcano continues to erupt.

More than 7000 people are already crammed into coastal evacuation centres, as a thick layer of volcanic ash and acid rain blankets villages and crops.

The disaster coordinator on Ambae Manuel Ure said authorities were hoping to clear the whole island - more than 11,000 people - this weekend.

The evacuees will be scattered around the nearby islands of Santo, Pentecost, Malekula and Maewo, he said.

She has also assured them of her efforts to rally whatever support may be needed to respond to the emergency.

There are currently no reports of injury or loss of life;  however 6000 people have been evacuated from the island that sits on what is known as the Pacific ‘ring of fire’, in which earthquakes and volcanoes are common.

The Vanuatu government has declared a state of emergency on the island, and the Secretary-General of the Commonwealth urged other member countries to assist Vanuatu with its efforts to provide relief and shelter to the people affected.  

All Team Leaders (TLs) assigned to the various Games (Functional Areas) FAs - Venues, Villages, Transport, Technology, Medics, Sport, Accreditation, Pacific Games Association, Security, Games Venues and Services, Marketing which covers VIP/Protocol, Ticketing and Sponsor Activation, and Media – were presented an overview on how their respective FAs interface with each other, with regards spaces to be occupied and especially the main services to be provided which are Volunteers, Catering, Technology and Transport.

The volcanic alert at the Manaro Voui crater is at level four with warnings of flying rocks, volcanic gas, acid rain and ash falls.

Yesterday, Vanuatu Prime Minister Charlot Salwa ordered the compulsory evacuation of the island by 6 October.

At least 7000 of the island's population of more than 11,000 have already been relocated from danger zones around the volcano to evacuation centres on the western and eastern sides of the island.