Vanuatu

SBS reports a new pilot project funded in part by the Australian government hopes to give the industry a boost -- by helping local producers reach more international buyers.

In the tropics, vegetation grows back fast.

Even so, it took six months for the sandalwood plantation Stevel Nilwo runs near Port Vila to return to full strength after Cyclone Pam hit in March 2015.

The plantation manager says his team rallied hard to save valuable plantings.

RNZ reports the electoral commission says the four-year terms of the Malampa, Penama, Shefa and Tafea councils have come to an end.

It says applications for candidates hoping to contest the elections opens on the 13th of February, ahead of the campaign's start on the 6th of March.

The commission's chairman, Martin Tete, is appealing for people to register to vote, and for political parties and candidates to not wait until the last minute to register.

RNZ reports stall-holders in the main city market and other outlets in the capital were planning to stop work yesterday over concern at an increase in the cost of permits.

The chairman of the Port Vila Market House committee, Elison Tabisal, met with the Market Vendors Association this morning and said vegetable sellers had agreed to co-operate and continue selling.

The market supplies the capital's population as well as restaurants and hotels in Port Vila.

The acting chief warden of the Port Vila Municipal Council, Honore Kasten, said a 1992 bylaw prohibits pigs and poultry from within the boundaries of Port Vila.

However, he told the Daily Post that the council has found out that people in town continue to raise poultry and pigs.

He said municipal officers and the police have the power to enter properties to ensure the bylaw is not being breached.

Mr Kasten said they can destroy any prohibited animal found in Port Vila, and their owners can be fined $US175 or face one year in prison.

Introduced by Prime Minister Charlot Salwai, the Development Support Programme is hoped to increase revenue to support development projects in the country.

Applications for citizenship will cost US$130,000 for a family of four, with an additional $5,000 for every other dependent child or $10,000 for non-dependents.

There is also a $2,000 administration fee.

The change came into effect this month.

The latest quake in Vanuatu, a country of around 250,000 people, resulted in no casualties or major damage, authorities said.

SBS reports the United States Geological Survey, which records seismic activity worldwide, located the hypocentre 15 kilometres deep at sea and 126 kilometres west of Port-Vila, the capital.

Vanuatu is located near the so-called Pacific Ring of Fire and the submarine volcanoes in the Lau Basin, which is why it often registers shakes of seismic origin.

SBS reports eighteen-year-old Jordy Didok Iokaim won't soon forget what Cyclone Pam did to his village in the central part of Vanuatu's Tanna Island.  

It was one of the areas worst affected by the category five storm which struck in March 2015.

"We were afraid, because this cyclone is not like some of the cyclones that [have happened] on our island," he said.

His house survived, but 20 people from his village of 30 were left homeless, seeking refuge inside Mr Iokaim's family home.

RNZ reports the Acting Manager for Border Control Baddley Tari said the five crew and captain, who all speak English, said they have sailed from Japan to Port Vila.

They said they were to deliver the ship to its new owner and are ready to fly out.

Mr Tari said no one has tried to claim the ship which is estimated to be 20 years old.

He said the man who was supposed to have bought the ship is Paul Okten, who is the owner of a company called JPO Kava Export.

The country had seen a massive drop in visitor arrivals earlier in the year due to reduced flights arising from safety concerns about the runway at its international airport and following on from the devastation of cyclone Pam in 2015.

But the Vanuatu daily post reports things are now on the mend according to the Vanuatu International Visitor Survey, for April to September 2016.

The country has recorded $US 12,348,848 per month as a direct economic impact from visitors arriving by air between April and July.

RNZ reports MSG senior officials and foreign ministers had meetings at the group's secretariat in Port Vila, with the findings of a review of MSG rules on membership the main agenda item.

This comes as the MSG considers a full membership application by the United Liberation Movement for West Papua.

The Liberation Movement, which has observer status in the MSG, protested at efforts by Indonesian officials at the meeting to dictate terms on the wording of discussions.