Under the Vanuatu constitution, there is a ceiling on the number of ministries, so if the government wants to create a new one, then another has to go to make way for it.
News that the Loughman administration wants to break up the Ministry of Justice and Community Services to allow for the creation of a Ministry of Fisheries, Oceans and Maritime Affairs is being heavily criticised.
Leading opposition figure, and former Justice Minister, Ralph Regenvanu, says the government's plan makes no sense, particularly when it comes to dealing with critical issues like domestic violence.
"This is the major social issue in Vanuatu and now you're going to basically have no longer any ministry, which focuses on this and the question is, where is women's affairs going to go to? " Mr Regenevanu told Pacific Beat.
And women's groups have joined in the criticism, with Dr Andrina Thomas from Women Against Crime and Corruption voicing her concern.
"If they dismantle this ministry that is working really hard to streamline gender into government offices, to raise awareness on gender equality, my reaction would be that gender is just going to fall through the cracks and nobody's going to worry about it."
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