Vanuatu Government

The Daily Post reports that so far over 1000 households and nearly 90 vendors have been registered on Ambrym for a digital cash transfer.

The newspaper says this figure is expected to increase.

The Minister of Finance, John Salong, said a mass registration will be conducted on Tanna and Efate following the exercise on Ambrym.

The government is planning to use Starlink Internet to cope with connectivity challenges in distributing the cash to 66,000 households altogether.

Food crops were severely affected in Vanuatu during twin cyclones in early March.

Chief Albert Ailo, President of Tomaso Council of Chiefs of Paama island, said the frequent cyclones in Vanuatu make it crucial to encourage the development and planting of resilient food crops that can withstand such calamities.

Chief Ailo recommended conducting a study on the islands to identify local foods that can resist disasters.

He cited wild yam as a potential resilient crop, saying he himself has planted it across his island and consumed it all year round.

The Daily Post reports the Minister of Internal Affairs Christophe Emelee as saying the decision was made to allow enough time for 6000 new passport holders to be engaged in either the RSE scheme or the Seasonal Workers Program (SPW).

High demand and a large number of new passports being issued are among reasons why the suspension has been put in place.

Area Administrator of Central Tanna, John Bill Iamul, said the grandmother - accompanied by some of her children - went to do some washing at a creek almost two kilometres away from her home.

A landslide swept her over cliffs 100 metres away from where she had been washing.

Iamul said the situation highlighted that accessing water continues to remain the main challenge for this community.

Local newspaper Daily Post reports that Air Vanuatu owed lessor Hevilift US$348,000 and was expected to return the aircraft on 18 May for failing to pay the lease payments.

A meeting was held between a Hevilift representative and Vanuatu’s minister of finance as well as the minister for the ministry of infrastructure and public utilities (MIPU), and other shareholders of Air Vanuatu, says Daily News.

The government committed to sorting out the outstanding bill and continuing to keep the aircraft in Vanuatu, confirms MIPU spokesman, Antoine Malsungai.

The inquiry comes in the wake of testimony from Vanuatu seasonal workers in Australia to a parliamentary hearing earlier this month, in which they alleged they had experienced bullying, exploitative working conditions, poor housing arrangements and lack of support services while under the scheme.

Australia’s Pacific labour mobility initiatives – the Seasonal Worker Programme (SWP) and Pacific Labour Scheme (PLS) – support Pacific and Timorese workers to take up jobs in rural and regional Australia, particularly in the agricultural sector.

The Department of Customs and Inland Revenue (DCIR) met with the Vanuatu Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) to draft and finalise the programme of the first country’s first Tax Week Monday.

This was confirmed by both DCIR Director, Harold Tarosa and the President of VCCI, Antoine Boudier.

The joint meeting noted that there are still tax evasions.

Boudier said there are two economies in Vanuatu. There are those who pay their tax and those who do not pay taxes, such as vendors of kava and taro.

The two bodies have agreed to discuss ways to avoid such problems in the future after signing a memorandum of understanding.

The MOU was signed by the Minister of MIPU, Jay Ngwele and Mayor of Port Vila, Eric Puyo-Festa, yesterday.

Recent rainfall flooded some roads in Port Vila due to improper drainage. Flooding can wash out roads and damage vehicles.

Prior the MOU signing yesterday, Minister Ngwele visited a flood affected area at Anambrou.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Internal Affairs, Ishmael Kalsakau signed the document to grant the license.

The outgoing Australian High Commissioner to Vanuatu, Sarah deZoeten was pleased to join Kalsakau, senior Vanuatu Government and Vanuatu Police Force to mark an important milestone for crime management in Vanuatu.

PIMS has been used by the Police Force since 2016 and enables them to better record incidents, manage investigations and maintain criminal history records as well as providing key data for informed decision making.

The emergency network connects police posts across Vanuatu’s six provinces, enabling inter-island communication during emergencies with police headquarters and the National Disaster Management Office (NDMO).

Commander Deployable Joint Force Headquarters Major General Scott Winter said the ADF is proud to partner with the VPF to support Vanuatu’s priorities.

“The devastation from Tropical Cyclone Harold in 2020 reinforced the priority of radio communications for Vanuatu,” Major General Winter said.