Archive - Feb 20, 2012

Dear Editor,

Vanuatu is about to be robbed!
Yes, it is a fact. Literally AND figuratively, Vanuatu is about to be robbed. Every ni-Van is now thinking, “Wanem ia man narafala kauntri ia istap talem”
What I am talking about is the ni-Van people are going to be robbed of real, high-volume export opportunities, robbed of the potential for a TRUE world-class reputation, robbed of significant revenues, and most importantly robbed of hundreds, if not thousands of jobs.

And by what mechanism could the country be so flagrantly fleeced?

Dear Editor,

Almost daily in media, we read and hear changes, good and bad.
In the Arab world uprisings, in Europe economic failures, America oil issues with Africa and Arab, China coming out strong so far, global warming affecting the whole world etc…

While certain religious read these as signs of the end of time, Stephen Hawkings and other Scientists think it is time human resettle themselves on planet Mars.

In Vanuatu, PM Kilman and government brain struggles to nail down weakness and failure in the government mechanism.

Dear Editor,

I would like to draw attention to the very serious situation that is faced by many residents of Port Vila and Luganville and in rural areas close to the urban centres.

Firstly there are some facts that must be acknowledged and accepted before the issue can be dealt with and appropriate solutions implemented.
1. There are many people from the other islands of Vanuatu residing in Efate and Santo.
2. Many of these people will never be able to return permanently to their home islands.

o Mi harem se Vanuatu needs to look at the heavy handed approach to tourists who come here with less than 6 months before their passports expire. A group of Japanese tourists came through with reservations to travel from Vila to Santo and Tanna as well as stay in Vila for a while. They had money and would have done so had immigration advised them that they could not stay because one of them had less than six months before his passport expired.

Dear Editor,

We are into the silly (lying) season. That time of the year where everyone is supposed to get their vehicles inspected and pay road tax by March 31st. It is a sham! Proper roadworthy inspections take time. My experience shows it takes 10 - 20 minutes per inspection (this does not count the paperwork for road tax and registration stickers).

The Acting Principal Officer of the Electoral Commission has confirmed that the 2012 National Election day will be held on the 30th October 2012.
That leaves 256 days for all political parties in Vanuatu to prepare for this important upcoming Election.

MP Ralph Regenvanu while presenting his report on his allocation expenditure during his term at an MP raised his concerns and is worried about the Supreme Court decision which was issued, and is still valid today, in connection to the bribery cases identified during the by-election in Efate Rural in 2009.

Australian Parliamentary Secretary for Pacific Island Affairs Richard Marles has encouraged Years 7 and 8 girls at Pango Primary School yesterday to always do their homework and study hard to achieve academic excellence.

MP Marles who is on his official visit to Port Vila led a high level Australian Government delegation including Australian High Commissioner to Vanuatu, Jeff Roach to visit the school.

The Southern Command at the Vila Police Station is already in preparation mode towards the ACP/EU meeting which will be held in June this year.
After a dress inspection made by Inspector George Songi last week, an in-house training for the police officers at the Vila police station was organised as part of the preparations.

The training was officially launched Tuesday this week at the Port Vila Police station conference room by the Deputy Commissioner of Police, Arthur Caulton.
This training will be continual until the month of May.

Local vessel MV Sabrina carried 130 passengers more than it was licensed to carry and port authorities are expected to apprehend its master for questioning.

The vessel was actually licensed to carry not more than 60 passengers according a reliable source within the Port s and Harbor Authority in Port Vila.
MV Sabrina made a voyage with 190 passengers she picked up on Malekula,
Instead of unloading these passengers in Port Vila the ship dropped off the passengers in North Efate and headed back to Santo, according to a source within the Ports and Harbor.

The Efate Member of Parliament and Minister for Foreign Affairs, Alfred Carlot, has recommended that the number of seats in parliament be reduced to 36.
The recommendation by the Efate MP to reduce number of seats in parliament was made during a one-day retreat by national leaders at the Warwick Le Lagon Hotel earlier this week.

Carlot told the leaders retreat that reducing the number of seats in parliament from the current 52 to 36 will be a huge savings on the national budget.