Vanuatu

When he was asked to respond to the Opposition claim that, they and GJP had secured a total of 23 MPs, Minister Regenvanu said he was aware of the claim which he said was baseless and without substance.

The GJP leader said it must be clear once and for all that people are tired of changes in government and are more in favor of political stability.

He said Opposition leaders making such claim should be ashamed of their doing.

PacWaste (Pacific Hazardous Waste) is a €7.85 million, four year project supported by the European Union and implemented by SPREP to improve regional hazardous waste management across the Pacific. PacWaste has four focus areas – asbestos, E-waste, healthcare waste and integrated atoll waste management.

Speaking to the media, President Lonsdale said the only way forward to satisfying the criteria of a neutral person to the post is to stick to the requirements under the law.

The Vanuatu Police (Amendment) Act No or 2010 stipulates that the selection of a new Police Commissioner should only be subject to the law and without political interference.

Section (7) of the Act states a person must not be appointed as the Commissioner under subsection (1) unless: 

(b) has served in a senior position within the Force for a period of at least 7 years; and 

RNZI reports a pilot programme by the satellite operator Kacific and the Vanuatu government set up the service at Lambubu Primary School on Malekula Island earlier this month.

The CEO of Kacific, Christian Patouraux, said an average New Zealand household would use 20 to 25 gigabytes a month but 400 gigabytes of the Lambubu community's wifi has been used in just ten days of service.

The Chairman of the Port Vila Town Council of Chiefs (PVTCC) and a member to the Vanuatu National Council of Chiefs, Malvatumauri, chief Isaac Worwor said that last year the Malvatumauri National Council of Chiefs had resolved that the Department of Labour set up a screening body that will engage the chiefs from different islands and urban centres to screen the applicants for seasonal work in Australia and New Zealand.

He claimed that any such screening process could have prevented RSE workers from illegally importing prohibited items.

The 2017 edition of the OFC U-17 Championship will be held in Papeete, Tahiti in February 2017 with preliminary stage winners Samoa joining the hosts, defending champions New Zealand, New Caledonia, Fiji, Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea and Vanuatu.

Just one side was seeded for the draw – hosts Tahiti into position A1 – with the remaining teams drawn into positions at random.

Children’s Day is on 24 July and the theme for this year’s activities is ‘Supporting Children’s Education from Class One’. Vanuatu is celebrating a weeklong Children Day activity beginning from yesterday with various activities planned in schools and communities.

When officially declaring the opening of Children’s Week activities, Mr Warsal said one of the special emphasis for this week is to ensure children appreciate their right to learn their original dialect or mother-tongue.

But now that we are passed the El Nino period, scientists are warning that another climate extreme may be coming our way: La Nina. We are on a La Nina “Watch”, with a more than 50% likelihood of La Niña forming later in 2016 according to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). 

President Lonsdale was speaking as guest of honor at the inauguration of the MSG-SPC Emerging Youth Leaders of Melanesia Programme in Port Vila today.

He told the participants that at this critical moment in time when the Pacific island countries and the world are going through many challenges of any magnitude, we need a new brand of leadership who are responsible, ethical and God-fearing young leaders of tomorrow to step in to lead their people free from the hardship.

The New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) also tasked the Pacific-bound vessel to deliver a 12-metre container packed with 5.3 tonnes of surplus hospital equipment for Vanuatu’s diabetic amputee patients that had been collected by the South Pacific Moana Hospital Trust, a non-governmental organisation based in Nelson.