Maewo

The Minister of Health Silas Bula said the facility will assist the Government through the MOH in providing the much-needed health services and compliment the vaccine roll-out programme to rural Maewo.

The new facility includes a 170 sqm medical building with a four-room maternity ward, two consultation rooms, a laboratory, storage building, laundry, kitchen, and public toilets.

Serviced by a generator, the complex also includes accommodation for health workers including two new bedroom houses.

The generator is a direct feed water system and a solar heating system.

Both Maewo islanders and evacuees from the Ambae volcanic eruptions are now benefitting from a mass planting made soon after the evacuees arrived on the island.

The first harvest and distribution of beans and cabbages to villages and settlements on the island has just taken place.

The Daily Post newspaper said Ambaeans especially see the greens as a great blessing after months of relying on noodles.

Photo file Ministry of Agriculture Vanuatu 

The Vanuatu government has said at least 3,000 people have been evacuated from the volcanic island of Ambae to Maewo.

The FRANZ partnership will be led by the heads of the diplomatic missions and accompanied by Government officials.

They are scheduled to visit four evacuation centres and host communities.

FRANZ was set up in 1992 and has helped in emergency situations in Vanuatu as well as in other Pacific countries.

A state of emergency remains in place for Ambae because of the volcanic threat.

More than 3000 of those who were evacuated from Ambae have been sent to the islands of Pentecost and Maewo which are more rural than the larger Espiritu Santo where the other 8000 have been sent.

Santo with its international Port and large runway has been made the operational hub for the relief effort.

But its focus has been taken up by the massive influx of people which has almost doubled the population of the provincial capital Luganville.