Vanuatu

The country's Geohazards Department on today raised its alert from level three to four, what it classified as a "moderate eruption state."

The volcano is one of the most active in the world, but its activity has steadily increased in the past couple of weeks, said Esline Garaeviti, the manager of the Geohazards Department.

On Saturday, that increased further, with the volcano belching ash across much of the 400sqkm island.

Wilex Samoa, a 100% locally owned family business, is showcase its delicately crafted KOKO LOA brand of chocolates.

The KOKO LOA is a new boutique cocoa brand that proudly celebrates its Samoan origins.

Elife’s Samoa Wild Tumeric is another Samoan product that will be promoted at the show this weekend.

Rich in antioxidants and anti-inflammatory properties, Elife’s Samoa Wild Turmeric Juice is uniquely prepared with alkaline ionised water to ensure you experience its unique and natural flavour, without the interference of additives and preservatives.

An exodus to cities and a high rate of urbanization was a challenge as well.

In his address at the UN General Assembly in New York today, Mr Salwai spoke of a clear link between forced migration and the responsibility to protect.  As a small island developing State facing rising sea levels, Vanuatu appealed to the international community to consider a legal framework to address the issue of climate change refugees.

Manager of Games and Services, Samson Sawan, explained that 24 representatives from each of the selected community groups signed their contract, to officially engage in the labour workforce which will cover services in cleaning, logistics, food vendors and kava vendors during the Games.

“It’s been a long process to recruit, identify, and select the groups and now we are in the process of engaging them by signing contracts,” said Mr Sawan.

Esline Bule said there were no reports of damage or injury as a result of the quake centred in Erromango, and no warnings were issued.

She said it was a tectonic event and was not related to the recent increase of volcanic activity further north.

Ms Bule said although this morning's quake was without incident, more severe events can cause a sudden tsunamis.

Tanna Coffee company owner, Terry Adlington, said Wednesday was an historic day for the company because he said never again will that many farmers be certified organic on the one day.

But Mr Adlington said this development comes after 157 years of coffee growing on Tanna.

Tanna Coffee is currently exporting to Australia, New Zealand and Fiji and supplies seedlings to two certified organic coffee growers in Samoa.

Photos by Organic Pasifika/Facebook 

Stage 1 will increase brewing capacity followed by Stage 2 which will double total production and add a canning line to the operations.

Nambawan has budgeted over 45,000,000vt for this expansion plan.

Nambawan has being brewing in Vanuatu since 2011 and has a solid following with its Draught, Bitter and Gold beer.

According to the Vanuatu Department of Industry, this year Nambawan started to brew a number of craft beers. With the growth in both its core and craft beer range, it is necessary to expand the brewery to keep up with demand. 

Minister for Agriculture, Livestock, Forestry, Fisheries and Bio-security (MALFFB), Matai Seremaiah told participants that more training will enable students to learn techniques about planting potatoes and other agricultural crops.

He also assured everyone that a tractor would be available soon to help them with farming.

A group of women from the island also thanked the Ministry for introducing them to organic farming techniques that enabled to grow potatoes and other crops.

The Van2017 Transport section set this month, to inspect vehicles or buses, with 40 of them already pre-selected within Port Vila Land Transport Association, and 10 more buses yet to be identified.

Van2017 has contracted PVELTA to subcontract 50 local buses to be used during the Games, and another 20 buses to be on a reserve list.

For the last two weeks, Van2017 jointly with Vanuatu Police Force and PVELTA, has conducted inspections of the pre-selected buses, to check vehicles’ legal documents and their physical condition.

The moderate earthquake occurred at 10:21am at a depth of 10km.

It was located at 339km Northeast from Luganville in Vanuatu, 445km North-northeast from Port Vila in Vanuatu, 999km North-northeast from Noumea, New Caledonia, and 1035 km Northwest from Suva, Fiji.

The Seismology Unit of Fiji's Mineral Resources said it would be monitoring the seismic activity for further updates.

Meanwhile, an earlier seismic activity was recorded earlier this morning within the Mariana Islands region, measuring 5.6 on the Richter scale.