Re: Defamation apology – Industrial Forest Plantation

Dear Editor,

I wish to apologize to my class mate, Johnson Binaru if my letters were seen to be of malicious intentions to tarnish his character. Let me also assure him that defamation is not the subject of my letters. My letters if taken as I took it meant that there are some people that wield power over the Prime Minister in certain positive development and one such positive development is the industrial forest plantation or Vanuatu Reforestation Project.

The Prime Minister is not unilaterally the government of Vanuatu. He heads the group of Ministers that make up the executive power granted by the constitution.

Therefore acting unilaterally by sending two separate correspondences which are in direct contradiction to a Council of Ministers’ Decision leads one to allege that he submits to certain people because politicians and civil servants working together can be negative.

The appropriate procedure is to take other Council Papers through consultation, DCO and COM and obtain COM decision before sending correspondences that reflect the position of the government externally. In this case, to the Japanese government when 2 separate correspondences were sent regarding the Vanuatu Reforestation Project in 2 separate times by the Prime Minister unilaterally.

I wrongly assumed that my class mate had inside knowledge of such a group but as he has denied such knowledge the matter rests thus and we remain friends.

Did I really defame him? According to my opinion I did not defame him at all as I made no direct libel on his character. There is nothing in my correspondences that says my class mate is a bad person at all.

Mr. Johnson Binaru I besiege you to forgive me of any wrongs that I may have done to hurt you emotionally and mentally.

I take this opportunity to wish you and your family a very merry Christmas and a prosperous new year.

Thomson Pakoa Matokai Kokona