Port Vila Lord Mayor Albert Daniel has assured his newly-elected counterpart of Luganville, Mayor Peter Patty of a better working relationship between the two municipals in Vanuatu..
“We will revisit the sister city relations we signed between our two cities in 2012 to encompass mutual agreements that will better the lives of the citizens of Port Vila and Luganville,” Mr Daniel said.
The Luganville Mayor was in Port Vila last week to “mend the chains” of communication and assistance with government agencies and aid donor countries based in Port Vila.
During a luncheon hosted in his honor by the Port Vila Mayor, the town clerk Peter Sakita hinted to Luganville Mayor Patty and the Acting Town Clerk of Luganville, Philip Isom the experiences faced by Port Vila in collecting property taxes and why the valuation of properties should be different.
Mr Sakita also discussed how to implement the proposed Ward Secretaries the Luganville Municipal intends to introduce and the prospect of Luganville Municipal rebranding its name something the Port Vila Municipal is in the process of doing.
Mr Patty said his primary objective during his visit to Port Vila is to find a solution to constant water supply shortage in Luganville which currently has a population of over 22, 000.
“There was an increase of 5, 000 overnight in 2017 with the volcano evacuees from neighboring island Ambae,” he said.
The Luganville Mayor told Mr Daniel that although Luganville Municipal Council was established in 1975 together with Port Vila, they in Luganville still regard Port Vila as their “elder brother” and they will always respect that.
Mayor Patty is serving his third term in the Council.
Photo supplied Caption: Lord Mayor Albert Daniel with Luganville Mayor Peter Patty