News

Tafea Police Patrol yesterday detained the captain of MV Touaraken 3 at Lenakel wharf for breaching State of Emergency orders. The vessel had gone to Tanna with fresh supplies of fuel for the island with authorization from the National Disaster Management Office (NDMO) for transportation of fuel only and cargo only. The Tafea Police Patrol under the working group of Border and Security under the Tafea Emergency Operations Centre had to ...

Tanna is the most vibrant constituency during the period of general elections where election preparations have remained the same since 1980s. Over the last two weeks, camps were set up to rally support for all candidates contesting in the 2020 general election. In the past, the number of supporters have been determined through pledge of support by groups in different parts of the constituency, where a small group takes that pledge to t ...

The Public Service Commission (PSC) has banned foreign travel by civil servants as of March 13 (Friday last week) until further notice. In a circular to all Directors General, Directors, Provincial Secretary Generals, Executive and Human Resource Officers, the Secretary General (SG) of PSC, Jean-Yves Bibi, said no government officials is allowed to travel abroad. “After getting information via the National Coronavirus Task Force abou ...

People in Vanuatu have raised concerns over people still travelling to Australia and New Zealand amid the spread of the deadly coronavirus in the two countries. A call has been made to the Government to repatriate all ni-Vanuatu seasonal workers serving overseas and wait until the two countries are cleared. Chief Malcolm Raymond of Tanna said if the government values the life of its people then it must act now before the virus spreads ...

The National Coronavirus Task Force is planning to use the TB Ward at Vila Central Hospital (VCH) as the isolation ward to treat suspected cases of coronavirus, if detected in Vanuatu. Acting Director of the Department of Policy, Planning and Corporate Services and Media Focal Person of the National Coronavirus Task Force, Russel Tamata, said the TB Ward is being refurnished. He said the task force is considering another isolation ward ...

The National Coronavirus Task Force has advised South Sea Shipping not to accept the diversion of cruise ships to Vanuatu amid coronavirus fears. Acting Director of the Department of Planning, Policy and Corporate Services of the Ministry of Health (MoH) and Media Focal Person of the National Coronavirus Task Force, Russel Tamata, conveyed this when clarifying why Carnival Splendor berthed in Port Vila last Friday when it was not schedule ...

The Coronavirus Task Force Committee’s Communications Officer, Mr. Russell Tamata, has dismissed information posted on social media yesterday about alleged suspected cases of coronavirus on a visiting cruise ship, labelling the posts as misleading and false. At the same time, he called on social media users to be more responsible. The posts on social media alleged that there were suspected cases of coronavirus on the Golden Princess ...

The Chairman of the Electoral Commission, Martin Tete, says the screening of candidates for the general election called for March 19, 2020 has begun, with over 250 applications received so far. The closing of the lodging of candidature application forms took place at 4.30pm on February 11, 2020. Mr. Tete said at the moment the total number of candidates is not yet known because candidature forms lodged with the provincial secretariat ...

An exciting new discovery off the coast of Espiritu Santo has ignited debate on the circumstances behind the ‘crash’ of a World War II Corsair fighter aircraft. The discovery of the aircraft by Santo locals earlier this month was reported to South Pacific World War II Museum Chairman, Bradley Wood. Following a dive on the wreck by Dive Vanuatu divers, initial photographs were taken to help identify the aircraft. It was soon confirm ...

The Vanuatu National Provident Fund (VNPF) and the Vanuatu Cooperatives Business Network (VCBN) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to establish a joint venture to support the private sector. Under the agreement, VNPF will fund the construction of a fruit canning factory on one of its undeveloped land in Santo and lease it to someone to manage it, said the General Manager (GM), Parmod Achary. “Both VNPF and VCBN will own ...