Ambae Island evacuees

James Bari, who is a Penama Province councillor, has been living on Santo since the government ordered an evacuation of the approximately 10,000 people living on Ambae due to volcanic activity three months ago.

Those displaced want to return to their homes when the government's state of emergency is lifted at the end of the month, but continued volcanic activity means this may not be possible.

Mr Bari said there will be many challenges faced by residents on return to the island.

The eruption of the Manaro Volcano displaced thousands with some people moving to Maewo, Santo and Port Vila.

Earlier this week there were calls for the prime minister to resign over the handling of the Ambae evacuees.

It's been a very difficult time for those who have left, according to the vice president of the Vanuatu Red Cross, Hannington Alatoa, who is from Ambae.

Earlier concerns were expressed about the conditions displaced islanders were facing on Maewo, including shortages of food and water.

However the WASH co-ordinator, Malatu Paolo, said the water on Maewo is safe for drinking, cooking and washing purposes.

He said any more bottle water shipped to the island would only pollute the pristine environment.

Maewo Island is well known for its spectacular waterfalls as well as streams from the north to the south.

The disaster relief officer at Penama Provincial Headquarters, Mansen Tari, has told the Vanuatu Daily Post newspaper that there is no relief food left to feed Ambaean evacuees with over a thousand people in 10 evacuation centres going without.

Mr Tari says he has appealed to them to bring their own food while waiting for the National Disaster Management Office in Port Vila to send more supplies.

Daily Post editor Dan McGarry said Ambae was becoming a national crisis never seen before and the inhabitants there needed urgent help.

The Vanuatu government on Thursday ended the state of emergency with the 11,000 people evacuated from Ambae 3 weeks ago now back on the island.

A provincial disaster official, Manuel Ure, said people are mostly happy to be back but they remained reliant on food and water supplies from the government.

He said many open water sources around the island were contaminated by ash.

More than 11,000 people have been moved to the islands of Pentecost, Maewo and Santo since Manaro Voui began spewing ash and smoke more than two weeks ago.

The volcano's alert level has recently been lowered from four to three but it is still up to the Vanuatu government whether people will be allowed to return to the island given volcanic ash from the volcano has contaminated most of the waterways and killed crops.

Thousands of children are among the more than 11,000 people who have been relocated from the island of Ambae to nearby Pentecost, Maewo and Espiritu Santo since the island's volcano began belching ash and smoke over two weeks ago.

The volcano's alert level has recently been lowered from four to three but it is still up to the Vanuatu government whether people will be allowed to return to the island given volcanic ash from the volcano has contaminated most of the waterways and killed crops.

New Zealand High commission in Vanuatu reports that New Zealand is working with the Adventist Development Relief Agency and the NDMO to deliver the items to the island.

Earlier this week, a New Zealand Defence Force P-3K2 Orion aircraft conducted an aerial survey of Monaro Voui Volcano on Ambae, as well as the volcanoes on Ambrym and Lopevi.

The high resolution surveillance imagery taken by the aircraft has been provided to Vanuatu’s National Disaster Management Office and the Vanuatu Geohazards Department to assist with their assessments of the volcanic activity.