A prominent pro-France leader in New Caledonia, Sonia Backès, has resigned from the French government after a resounding defeat at France’s Senatorial elections four days ago.

In July 2022, Backès, a member of French President Macron’s Renaissance party, had been appointed Assistant Minister for Citizenship in French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne’s government.

She is also President of New Caledonia’s affluent Southern Province and a leading figure within New Caledonia’s pro-France camp.

• READ MORE: FLNKS mayor wins run-off poll to take unprecedented French Senate seat
• Other New Caledonia politics reports

At the Senatorial poll on Sunday, she was vying for one of the two seats reserved for New Caledonia, but lost to Robert Xowie, a pro-independence indigenous Kanak leader from the FLNKS (Kanak and Socialist National Liberation Front) who is also the Mayor of Lifou in New Caledonia’s Loyalty Islands group.

Xowie is the first ever pro-independence leader to be elected to the French Senate.

Backès’ setback had since fuelled speculation that she would have to resign.

Since her appointment to a ministerial position, New Caledonia’s pro-independence movement had raised eyebrows on a possible conflict of interest and the necessary impartiality of the French government in view of future talks about the French Pacific entity’s political future.

On Wednesday in Paris, she is reported to have tendered her resignation to the French President, who is understood to have accepted it, according to French media reports.

Double blow to pro-French camp
The French Senate elections last weekend were a double blow for the pro-French camp in New Caledonia: for the other contested seat, another pro-French candidate, Georges Naturel, Mayor of the small town of Dumbéa near Noumea took the seat in spite of his candidacy was not endorsed by his own political party, Les Républicains (LR).

Incumbent Pierre Frogier, 72, a veteran politician in New Caledonia, who was bidding for another mandate, also lost.

He has since publicly announced this defeat marked “the end of (his) public life” which spanned half a century.

Frogier is one of the few remaining politicians in New Caledonia who had signed both the Matignon-Oudinot Accord in 1988 (marking the end of half a decade of a bloody civil war) and the Nouméa Accord 10 years later in 1998, setting the roadmap for a gradual process of enlarged autonomy and a transfer of powers from France to New Caledonia.

But 25 years after its signing, the Nouméa Accord is coming to an end and the three referendums it prescribed have been held over the past 5 years.

Holding those three referendums was a key provision of the Nouméa Accord and the majority of voters responded “no” to the question “Do you want New Caledonia to access full sovereignty and become independent?”

Since then, Paris regards this outcome as an unequivocal indication that New Caledonia wants to remain French.

The first two referendum results were no (56.67 percent, November 4, 2018) and no (53.26 percent, October 4, 2020).

However, the FLNKS is contesting the validity of the third referendum’s results (96.50 percent for no, December 12, 2021). However, less than half, 43.87 percent, of the registered voters turned out for this referendum due to the Kanak boycott of the poll after the covid pandemic ravaged the community.

‘A response to neo-colonial attitude’
Sunday, September 24 was not only Senatorial election day in France.

In New Caledonia, ironically, it was the “Citizenship Festival”, a new way to mark this year — the 170th anniversary of what used to be called the “Day of Taking Possession”, a direct reference to the first French landing, September 24, 1853, when French Commodore Febvrier-Despointes “took possession” of the islands on behalf of Napoleon III and planted the French tricolour flag in the small coastal village of Balade.

The electoral setback is also perceived as a strong message sent from the pro-independence camp to Paris, as parties have last month resumed talks on New Caledonia’s political future.

“[The victory] is a response to President Macron’s neo-colonial attitude which persists in ignoring that our country is engaged in an irreversible decolonisation process,” the FLNKS wrote in a media release earlier this week.

“It is also a stinging response to [France’s] unacceptable ‘martyr’ document,” the release adds in a direct reference to a draft document outlining suggestions for future changes to New Caledonia’s institutions, citizenship and self-determination modus operandi.

For instance, under the French suggestions, there would no longer be a deadline for any future referendum for New Caledonia, no more “yes” or “no” options, but the matter would be considered if a “project” was submitted to approval after bipartisan talks.

Other suggestions relate to the notion of a New Caledonian citizenship, which would co-exist with a French citizenship and would be detailed in a scheduled Constitutional amendment that President Macron would like to have voted by the French Congress (a gathering of both Houses of the French Parliament, the National Assembly and the Senate) sometime early 2024.

The document has been dubbed “martyr” by France’s Home Affairs and Overseas minister Gérald Darmanin during talks early September in Paris because it was destined to be discussed and largely debated by all sides of New Caledonia’s political spectrum.

Another round of talks is scheduled to take place in October in Nouméa with Darmanin.

Backès’ rebuff and subsequent resignation are said not to have any impact on the October schedule.

Fractured political landscape
But the new situation leaves a largely fractured political landscape in New Caledonia.

On the pro-independence side last week, one of the main and largest components of FLNKS, the Union Calédonienne (UC), back-tracked on its earlier commitment to attend the Nouméa talks.

Its spokesperson, Gilbert Tyuienon, said the “martyr” draft was “unacceptable” and “not serious” because it cast doubt on New Caledonia’s self-determination process.

Other components of the pro-independence umbrella, the PALIKA (Parti de Libération Kanak) and the UPM (Union Progressiste Mélanésienne), however, said they remained committed to further talks with Darmanin.

On the pro-France side, Backès’ senatorial setback and subsequent resignation also leaves a deeply divided terrain, some of its leaders admitting their recent skirmishes had largely contributed to the defeat and deprived them of a voice within the French Senate and more generally on the French National political scene.

It has since transpired that both Xowie and Naturel’s victory resulted from a secret exchange of votes agreement struck between the two, on a bipartisan basis.

This triggered furious reactions from the pro-France side, which have since labelled Naturel as a “traitor”.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

A third referendum on independence from France looms in New Caledonia unless talks over the next six months satisfy the aspirations of the Kanak people for more self-rule.

On Saturday, the French Overseas Minister Sebastien Lecornu is due in New Caledonia to gauge the positions of local politicians while Paris calibrates its options to retain its foothold in Melanesia.

On arrival, Lecornu will have to spend two weeks in quarantine in covid-19-free New Caledonia while the territory recovers from a bruising referendum campaign and digests the result.

• READ MORE: Victory in defeat for Kanak independence movement in latest referendum
• Melanesian Spearhead Group still backs Kanak decolonisation agenda

Just over 53 percent voted for the status quo but it meant a further decline for the French loyalist camp which as recently as two years ago was told by pollsters that it had 70 percent support.

Going to a third referendum in 2022 – as is possible under the Noumea Accord – means more political tension and according to the president of the Southern province Sonia Backes, it even bears the risk of a civil war.

All the while, those on the losing side of the referendum insist on their right as the colonised people to regain control of their homeland.

Independence ‘cannot be denied’
Bilo Railati of the small Labour Party said independence could not be denied.

“I would like to say here, and I hope it is understood, that the Kanak people will never mourn its independence,” he told television viewers.

The decolonisation process launched at the United Nations in 1986 has seen two major accords since 1988, first the Matignon Accords and then the 1998 Noumea Accord.

They framed a peaceful coexistence for three decades but failed to unite the communities for the much vaunted common destiny.

Among the ongoing upheaval in the all important nickel sector, growing worry about public finances as well as inequality and crime the independence question is just one additional challenge.

Tension was heightened by the divisive referendum question which Paris had chosen two years ago.

This was acknowledged by Lecornu when he was asked on French radio.

“This binary question of a yes or no to independence is not the answer to all the questions raised in society today,” he said.

Anti-independence camp split
The anti-independence camp, which is split over internal rivalries, campaigned with two approaches.

A grouping of six parties, calling themselves the “Loyalists”, pushed a winner-takes-it-all line, avoiding dialogue while warning of economic pitfalls of independence.

The New Caledonia Together party, however, viewed the latest referendum as an unnecessary exercise because it only hardened positions when a mutually acceptable way forward needed to be found.

On television, a senior party member and former provincial president Philippe Michel restated his vision.

“We at Caledonia Together believe that it is possible to conjoin sovereignty and being in a republic instead of opposing sovereignty and the republic. We believe that it is possible to have a statute in New Caledonia under which there is – as already in some spheres – a shared sovereignty,” he said.

Already a month ago the Loyalists said that instead of a third referendum a new deal should be put to voters in 2022 which could make New Caledonia a constitutionally guaranteed part of the French republic.

Their plan would end the concept of a New Caledonian citizenship conferred to indigenous Kanaks and long-term residents who are currently the only people allowed to vote in the referendums.

Voting rights for French residents
This would also grant about 40,000 mainly French residents, or about a fifth of the population, voting rights which they do not have under the terms of the Noumea Accord.

Last week, pro-independence parties proposed a law to ban foreigners from buying existing real estate – a move, which would also apply to the French residents ineligible to be New Caledonian citizens.

A group representing them, One Heart One Vote, plans to challenge this in the European Human Rights Court, describing it as discriminatory.

In his address on Sunday night, President Emmanuel Macron confirmed that he would comply with the constitutionally guaranteed Noumea Accord and, if so wanted, organise a third referendum.

However, Macron also said ultimately the transitional provisions enshrined in the constitution must either give way to lasting provisions or be withdrawn.

According to Professor Mathias Chauchat of the University of New Caledonia, the implication is that France no longer intends to respect constitutional irreversibility, which implicitly means a new unilateral status and the enlargement of the electorate to include all the French.

Macron also called on French national political forces to draw up their vision of New Caledonia’s future.

New mission planned
Now according to Les Nouvelles Caledoniennes, a former minister has proposed that a mission be planned headed by a former prime minister, either Manuel Valls or Edouard Philippe.

Lecornu said there would be either another referendum or a vote on a new arrangement.

“In both cases there will be a moment when the Noumea Accord ends and something new needs to be imagined,” he said.

While French politicians expressed confidence that New Caledonia would remain tied to France, they largely oppose a third referendum.

Consolidating the French presence is last month’s appointment of the first ever ambassador in charge of the Indo-Pacific.

The Paris-based diplomat will begin his job next week and is expected to liaise along the Indo-Pacific axis outlined by Macron which extends via India and Australia to New Caledonia and French Polynesia.

Pro-independence camp unperturbed
The pro-independence camp appeared to be unperturbed by the two referendum losses.

A signatory to the Noumea Accord back in 1998 and now president of New Caledonia’s Congress, Roch Wamytan, was adamant that the decolonisation process has to result in independence.

To get there, he wanted to adhere to what was decided from the very start of he process.

“We are not hesitating to say that we are going to a third referendum because we have so decided,” he said

Should decolonisation fail, the pro-independence side has already said it will seek direct bilateral talks with Paris.

The next referendum can at the earliest be called in April, giving French and pro-French New Caledonian leaders six months to lay out a path to change Wamytan’s mind.

This article is republished by the Pacific Media Centre under a partnership agreement with RNZ.

For many Kanaks, the upcoming independence referendum is a chance to reclaim control of New Caledonia, or “Kanaky”, and establish a new independent nation in the Pacific.

For pro-independence labour organisation USTKE (Union of Kanak and Exploited Workers), however, the November 4 referendum is undemocratic and should be treated as a non-event.

On a visit to New Zealand this week, Leonard Wahmetu, general secretary of the mines and metals section of the USTKE, said his organisation and its political arm, the Labour Party, would not be participating in the referendum as it had been tailored to favour an outcome of remaining with France.

READ MORE: Lee Duffield’s Asia Pacific Report series on New Caledonia and the referendum

Referring to the period preceding the 1988 Matignon accord – the first step in France’s promise of eventual sovereignty for the Kanaks – Wahmetu said that the demographics of Kanaky were significantly altered when the French government encouraged mass migration from mainland France, eroding the Kanak’s voting majority in subsequent referenda.

Although participation in the November 4 voting excludes anyone who came to live in the territory after 1998, Wahmetu argued that the referendum’s credibility had been comprised by those historical events.

“The vote is not sincere, it is not honest, it is not true,” he said.

Discrepancies in the roll
The referendum voting roll has also come under scrutiny, with the USTKE and other pro-independence parties claiming many Kanaks have not been included.

According to an RNZ Pacific report, pro-independence groups feel Kanaks should be automatically included on the roll, but the electoral law states that voters must register to cast a ballot.

Wahemtu argued that the vague and complex administrative process makes registration difficult for Kanaks, many of whom can’t access the documents to prove their eligibility.

According to Australian academic and journalist Dr Lee Duffield, a research associate of the Pacific Media Centre, this lack of familiarity with the Western democratic process may also be a reason why many Kanaks believe the referendum is stacked against them.

“French conservative parties and Caldoche interests are the most at home with persuasive negotiation, lobbying, campaigning and advertising. The Kanak system is more community based and not so at home with modern-day politicking,” he said.

However, he did stress that the French government had made access to the roll very open for Kanaks, citing an instance where a Kanak who had been living abroad for a long time was allowed to enrol.

Despite its stance of non-participation, the USTKE is staunchly pro-independence and has fought emphatically for Kanak workers’ rights since the early 1980s, when it was a key component of the Kanak and Socialist National Liberation Front (FLNKS).

1980s protest action
During that period, anti-colonial sentiment was high among Kanaks, mainly due to France’s harsh policies of military action and assassinations to repress the indépendentiste movement. Violent protest in response was not uncommon.

After the tragic 1988 massacre on Ouvéa Island where 19 FLNKS militants were killed after taking a group of gendarmes (district police) hostage, the French government was forced to seriously consider the Kanaks quest for independence and the negotiation of the Matignon Accord ensued. After having signed it with the FLNKS, the USTKE detached from the FLNKS in respect of the separation of trade unionism and politics.

It continued its campaigning for Kanak workers’ rights alongside the Confederation of Labour (CGT), the largest workers’ union in France.

While the CGT supports the indépendentiste movement, it respects the USTKE’s decision not to participate in the referendum.

CGT’s Asia Pacific director of the international department, Sylvain Goldstein, explained that regardless of the referendum, the aim of the USTKE was not to evict the French, but rather achieve a more inclusive and prosperous society.

“There is not a will to end relations with France, not at all. It’s more to rebalance the rights and consider everything that needs to be considered for a better situation and open up to Pacific neighbours,” Goldstein said.

For the USTKE, a better situation would also include fairer representation and employment for Kanaks, especially in the lucrative nickel mining industry.

Promises eroded
Despite the industry being one of the largest in the world, Kanaks are grossly under-represented; something that Leonard Wahmetu said went against promises laid out in the Matignon Accord.

“There was an agreement that a lot more Kanak people will be trained to have more responsibility. Now only 50 are involved in the mining because they give the training to the people from mainland France,” he said.

Yet even skills and expertise are often not enough to guarantee employment in an industry that Wahmetu claims, is rife with discrimination.

“Even if the young people are well trained they cannot find a job because they are Kanak,” he said.

Environmental protection is another key aim of the USTKE, which would see mining companies and other multinationals held to account for their impact on Kanaky’s natural resources.

According to Sylvain Goldstein, unauthorised expansion by mining companies can imperil the natural environment, leading to conflict with Kanak tribes who have a duty to protect the land.

Protester blockade
This has occurred most recently in the town of Kouaoua, where protesters have blockaded the SLN mining company in an effort to protect endemic oak trees. The mine has since been shut down, reports RNZ.

For Leonard Wahmetu, this kind of activism is exactly what’s needed to exact change in a system where the democratic processes are not fair or impartial.

While the USTKE and the Labour Party will still be working in the political arena for policy changes and fairer electoral rolls, he stresses the importance of strong action.

“Political pressure and protest go together. We can’t just talk in the office, we must protest out in the field,” he said.

“Without this we wouldn’t be heard.”

Michael Andrew is a student journalist on the Postgraduate Diploma in Communication Studies (Journalism) reporting on the Asia-Pacific Journalism course at AUT University.

In Noumea, two main flags fly outside the Territorial Congress building of New Caledonia: the national Tricolore of France and the flag of the Kanak and Socialist National Liberation Front, or FLNKS.

With the long-awaited independence referendum set for just three months away – on November  4 – New Caledonia will have an opportunity to move into the future with the Kanak flag flying solo.

In keeping with the 1998 Noumea accord, the upcoming referendum is part of France’s promise to restore political power to the original, indigenous population – the Kanaks.  If the result is no for independence, there will be an opportunity to vote again in 2020 and 2023.

READ MORE: Decolonisation vote looms – what lies ahead?

If the result is yes, the French territory will become a new Pacific country.

According to local woman Delphine Afchain, however, the consequences of such an outcome are causing concern and doubt in some sections of the community.

“The people don’t know what will happen,” she says. “The politicians haven’t exposed to us what will happen if we get independence. It’s a bit blurry to us.”

Afchain lives in Kone, the provincial seat of the Northern Province of the main island, Grande Terre. Since the 1980s, the north, along with the Loyalty Islands has been administered with relative autonomy by the Kanaks, who elect representatives to the Territorial Congress.

Kanak pride, identity
Although Kanak pride and identity is widespread throughout the province, Afchain says many people have grown accustomed to the perks of French influence.

“Our young people are going to university in France to do studies. And they come back here to get jobs. That’s the normal way,” she says.

French education is one of several benefits granted Kanaks since the signing of the Noumea accord, and its predecessor, the Matignon accord, in 1988. Under those agreements – established to reduce historical unrest and division – Kanaks have been granted full French citizenship, special land rights, custom identity and access to healthcare and infrastructure in the wealthiest island state in the Pacific.

If the vote for independence succeeds, critics fear some of those  those benefits will be swept away.

Yet some Kanaks believe this is a necessary cost if it means they can have their own country. For these indépendantistes, too much has been sacrificed to falter so close to their goal.

Jaimie Waimo is a Kanak journalist who works for the territorial television channel Caledonia. He explains that although he doesn’t know exactly what will happen if independence is achieved, he will still vote “yes” to honour the historical struggles of his people.

“As a Kanak person, I have the duty to follow what has been fought for in the past,” he says through a translator. “My choice is there to mark the respect to the dead Kanaks who fought for it.”

Hienghene massacre
The grievous deaths of independence campaigners in the 1980s remain a powerful reminder of the true cost of the campaign; in 1984, 10 unarmed Kanak militants were slaughtered by a group of white and mixed-race settlers, or Caldoches, in a premeditated ambush known as the Hienghene massacre.

A few years later, 19 Kanaks were slaughtered on Ouvéa Island after an offensive by the French military to free captured gendarme hostages.

Political leaders have even been assassinated; Jean-Marie Tjibaou, then leader of FLNKS, and his deputy Yeiwene Yeiwene were gunned down in 1989 not long after negotiating the Matignon Accord.

Another Northern resident, Sylvie Brier, likens the conflict during that period to civil war. However, she says much of it was necessary to enact the changes that came with the Matignon and Noumea accords.

“Since the Matignon-Oudinot agreement, there has been the creation of a training plan with funds for improving skills of the Kanak community in many sectors – public administration, business management, and teaching,” says Brier.

Working for a Northern-based economic development organisation, she is neither pro nor anti-independence. She belongs to a third group who are in favour of independence but believe the move would be economically unwise at this time.

“I think we don’t have enough information about the days after the referendum.”

Crucial role
Economics plays a crucial role in the independence debate; New Caledonia is one of the five biggest producers of nickel in the world. Currently, five mines operate throughout the territory with the total output accounting for more than 80 percent of all export commodities and almost 10 percent of the GDP.

While pro-independence parties would like to use such wealth for the new country’s benefit, some Kanaks are wary about doing this without the technology, investment and expertise provided by France.

The loss of French financial support in general concerns all parties involved in the independence debate.

For fourth generation Caldoches Stephane Nea and Cheryl Young, this is the main reason they will be voting “no”. They say that although they don’t have much allegiance to France and are proud to be from New Caledonia, the ramifications of independence are too unpredictable.

“No one has told us how they will replace the money France gives every year,” they say through a translator.

“We’re scared of the future.”

This uncertainty is reflected in the latest opinion polls. Conducted in late April through I-Scope, the results show a “no” vote is likely with 22.5 percent for independence against 59.7 percent opposed and 17.8 percent undecided.

Peace outcome
However, according to academic and journalist Dr Lee Duffield, a research associate of the Pacific Media Centre and who visited New Caledonia last month, this result will not silence many indépendantistes.

“If it’s no, it’s the peaceful outcome of continuity but it doesn’t solve the problem of the Kanak spiritual feeling,” he says.

“They haven’t got their own country. They can’t take an equal place in the Melanesian world as a free sovereign state.

“Also they’re very dissatisfied that they’re poorer than the French.”

With another referendum set for 2020 and many of these issues unlikely to be resolved by then, the quest for a sovereign country under one flag is certain to go on.

“They’ve got that burning fire,” says Dr Duffield.

“It’s in the hearts and in the passion.”

Michael Andrew is a student journalist on the Postgraduate Diploma in Communication Studies (Journalism) reporting on the Asia-Pacific Journalism course at AUT University.

• New Caledonia’s referendum vote – what you need to know

Pacific Media Watch Newsdesk

Vanuatu Prime Minister Charlot Salwai Tabimasmas has expressed his country’s concern about the vast flows of refugees and migrants, noting that in 2016 the number of displaced people around the world stood at 65 million during his speech today to the 72nd United Nations General Assembly.

He also appealed to France to honour the will of the people with the 2018 referendum on independence in New Caledonia due next year and appealed to the UN Human Rights Council to investigate violations in West Papua.

UN summary
An exodus to cities and a high rate of urbanisation was a challenge as well. There was a clear link between forced migration and the responsibility to protect. As a small island developing state facing rising sea levels, Vanuatu appealed to the international community to consider a legal framework to address the issue of climate change refugees.

For Vanuatu, the United Nations represented the best hope and catalyst for peace and security, as well as for lifting millions out of poverty, he said. To remain relevant, however, strategic reforms were needed. Being a permanent member of the Security Council was a responsibility and it was incumbent on the organ to move beyond the political interests of its members and to find compromise solutions. Vanuatu supported Council reforms which reflected current geopolitical trends with fairer regional representation, he said.

Vanuatu’s graduation from least developed country status did not eliminate its vulnerability to natural hazards, nor must it upset or hinder its development, he said. The transition mechanism for graduating countries must be strengthened. Conveying his government’s concern about threats to peace and security in the Asia-Pacific region, he urged the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea to halt its missile and nuclear development programme, reaffirmed Vanuatu’s commitment to the denuclearization of the Pacific and welcomed the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.

Hurricanes and tropical cyclones around the world were warnings from Mother Nature that climate change was happening faster than efforts to respond to it, he said. Deeper thought and greater efforts were needed. Reducing greenhouse gas emissions would make a difference, he said, urging the United States to review its decision on the Paris Agreement and to implement it. He emphasized his country’s commitment to reverse the decline of the health of the world’s oceans, including through a ban on plastic bags by 2018.

Looking ahead to the 2018 referendum in New Caledonia, he urged the administration there to honour the will of its people. The Human Rights Council should meanwhile address the situation in West Papua, he said, calling for decolonisation to be put back on the United Nations radar.

Full address in French

Transcription by ETAN
16:55:

My government, Mr President, is worried to note that the UN has lost a lot of its capacity and will to implement Resolution 1514 of 14th December 1960 which expressed the need to put an end swiftly and unconditionally to colonialism in all of its forms and manifestations.

Ending colonialism has to reappear on the UN radar and all efforts in this regard have to be free of international political pressure. We all have a collective responsibility to guarantee self-determination to people who are under colonial yoke …

18:10:
Mr President,

For are half a century now, the international community has been witnessing a gamut of torture, murder, exploitations, sexual violence, arbitrary detention inflicted on the nationals of West Papua perpetrated by Indonesia. But the international community turned a deaf ear to their appeals for help.

We urge the Human Rights Council to investigate these cases. We also call on our counterparts throughout the world to support the legal right of West Papua to self-determination and to jointly with Indonesia put an end to all kinds of violence and find common ground with the nationals to facilitate putting together a process which will enable them to freely express their choice.

• Vanuatu’s full UN address summary
• West Papua ignored by most NZ major parties
• More West Papua stories
• Solomon Islands statement to UN
• Tonga’s statement to UN – no mention of West Papua
• Kiribati’s statement to UN – no mention of West Papua

Authorities have issued a level one alert for New Caledonia’s northern province and the islands of Ouvea and Lifou, Radio New Zealand International reported.

This alert was extended to the rest of New Caledonia from 2pm today, requiring people to prepare for the cyclone’s impact.

But as New Caledonia prepares to face the now category 5 cyclone – the most powerful in the Southern Hemisphere ever recorded in May – Vanuatu’s northern islands have not quite escaped her wrath just yet.

The Torba, Sanma and Malampa provinces continue to be affected, as strong winds and flash flooding are expected to prevail over the course of this week.

Vanuatu hard-hit
Cyclone Donna battered Vanuatu’s northern islands for three consecutive days since it made landfall on Friday.

A “yellow alert” had been issued for the provinces of Torba and Penama, requiring people to take shelter as 185km/h winds were expected.

Meanwhile, a ‘blue alert’ had been put in place further south and west in the provinces of Sanma and Malampa.

Authorities advised people to secure homes and valuables, cut down dangerous trees, organise food and water, and have charged phones and torches available ahead of the cyclone’s landfall.

However, reports over the last couple of days have revealed it is the Torres islands which have been the worst hit.

Reports of damage initially emerged on Saturday, as the northern part of Vanuatu continued to be battered for the second consecutive day.

Vanuatu Daily Post‘s Glenda Willie reported a number of homes had been destroyed in various islands across Torba Province while the roof was torn off a school classroom in Vanua Lava.

Limited communication
Winds that ranged from 165km/h to 235km/h tore through the region, resulting in limited communication.

Both the National Disaster Management Office and the Red Cross have confirmed trees and houses have toppled, while food crops have been destroyed.

In Torba, people on the islands of Banks and Torres were forced to take shelter in caves and evacuation centres.

Glenda Willie of the Daily Post reported all schools in the provinces Torba, Penama and Malampa closed their doors last Thursday, following instructions from the Ministry of Education and Training.

The move was to ensure students remained safe as Cyclone Donna battered the northern part of the country.

Domestic flights have been grounded until tomorrow, while international flights continued to fly out during the cyclone but on a case-by-case basis as the cyclone’s movements were “closely monitored”, reported Anita Roberts of the Daily Post.

Bad weather in the area continues to hamper relief efforts and attempts to gauge the damage.

Climate change blamed
Professor Jim Salinger, a climate scientist with Otago University, told Radio New Zealand International that Cyclone Donna’s late appearance and intensity was indicative of a changing climate.

Dr Salinger said sea temperatures around Vanuatu and New Caledonia were too warm for this time of year, being temperatures normally seen in March.

“Well we’re not in an El Niño and we’re not in a La Niña, so you would not expect temperatures to be that warm, though they can be on occasions. So what we’re seeing happening here is, I’d say, there’s a bit of global warming going on,” he said.

Scientific predictions of stronger, more intense cyclones over a longer season as a result of climate change were starting to be borne out, Dr Salinger added.

Cyclone Donna had sustained winds of 185km/h at its centre, gusting as high as 235km/h, while it pummeled Vanuatu. 

It was expected to weaken as it headed toward New Caledonia.

• Shefa province schools closed