A Māori supporter of Pacific independence movements claims the French government has “constructed the crisis” in New Caledonia by pushing the indigenous Kanak population to the edge, reports Atereano Mateariki of Waatea News.

A NZ Defence Force Hercules is today evacuating about 50 New Zealanders stranded in the French Pacific island territory by riots that broke out last week over a plan to give mainland settlers voting rights after 10 years’ residence.

Sina Brown-Davis from Kia Mau Aotearoa said Kanak leaders had worked patiently towards independence since the last major flare-up in the 1980s, but the increased militarisation of the Pacific seemed to have hardened the resolve of France to hang on to its colonial territory.

• LISTEN TO WAATEA NEWS: Māori support for Kanak independence

“Those rights to self-determination, those rights to independence of the Kanak people as an inalienable right are the road block to the continued militarisation of our region and of those islands,” she said.

Papua New Guinea’s Minister for International Trade and Investment Richard Maru has assured investors in Asia that his government has its sights set on free trade agreements with China and Indonesia.

He said his ministry, in tandem with a new parliamentary committee, would look into the “impediments to business”, with the aim to ease such disincentives to investors coming into the country in all sectors.

“We need to reduce the cost of doing business. Our Parliament last week established a new committee which is tasked to look at how we can reduce the difficulties in doing business and the committee has been established for the first time and they will look into
that aspect,” he said.

• READ MORE: Other PNG trade reports

“How do we make it easier — that aspect of business and the cost of doing business?

“We are now going to undertake a 6-month study on the viability of having a free trade agreement with China.

“I’m working to be in Indonesia in the coming weeks to start the discussions with the trade minister of Indonesia. We want to also undertake the study of Papua New Guinea looking at the viability of a free trade agreement with Indonesia,” Maru said.

He said PNG was serious about growth and economic partnership with the two large economies.

Maru reiterated that while the extractive sectors did raise revenue, they did not generate jobs except in their construction stage.

“Fisheries, forestry, hospitality, tourism — that is where the big jobs are.

“We will start putting trade commissions in cities with trade commissioners right around the world,” he added.

Republished with permission from the PNG Post-Courier.

Paediatrician Dr Teuila Percival heads the list of Pacific recipients in the New Zealand King’s Birthday Honours List for 2023.

Dr Percival is one of at least 15 Pasifika people in New Zealand who are on the list. She is to be a Dame Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to health and the Pacific community.

For the past three decades she has been a strong advocate for Pacific children’s health in New Zealand and the Pacific.

• READ MORE: King’s Birthday Honours: Former NZ leader Jacinda Ardern receives high accolade
• King’s Birthday Honours: Kiwis recognised for service across fields from business to sport
• Other King’s Birthday Honours reports

Dr Percival said she felt honoured to get the award after getting over the initial surprise.

“I think it’s important for Pacific people to be recognised in the work they do, so it’s really nice in that respect,” she said.

“It’s just a great job, I love working with kids. I think children are the most important thing.”

Dr Percival was a founding member of South Seas Healthcare, a community health service for Pacific people in Auckland since 1999.

She has also been deployed to Pacific nations after natural disasters like to Samoa in 2009 after the tsunami and to Vanuatu in 2015 following cyclone Pam.

Education
Sacred Heart school counsellor Nua Silipa is to be an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for her services to Pacific education.

Silipa said her experience struggling in the education system after immigrating from Samoa in 1962 had motivated her to help Pacific people in the classroom.

“When I look back now I think my journey was so hard as a minority in Christchurch,” Silipa said.

“It was a struggle because we weren’t in the classroom, the resources at that time were Janet and John . . .  so as a learner I really struggled.”

She said the “whole experience of underachievement” motivated her to help “people who are different in the system”.

“It’s not a one size fits all in education.”

Nua Silipa said she felt humbled to be a recipient on the King’s Birthday Honours List.

She said the award also honoured the people who had been involved in improving education for Pasifika.

“I know there’s so, so many other people who are doing work quietly every day, helping our communities and I’m really in awe of them.

“There are many unsung heroes out in our community doing work for our people.”

Technology
Mary Aue is to be a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for her services to education, technology and Pacific and Māori communities.

Mary Aue is to be a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for her services to education, technology and Pacific and Māori communities Photo: Supplied

In 1999, she launched Coconut Wireless as an e-newsletter for Pasifika reaching 10,000 subscribers. It relaunched in 2014 as a social media platform and now has over 300,000 Facebook followers.

“There was a disconnect between community and government agencies and there was a disconnect between our communities,” she said.

“There was no communication back then, so I created an e-newsletter.”

The name Coconut Wireless was based on the island concept as a fast way of communicating through word of mouth.

Aue has also been an advocate for more Pacific and Māori learners in science, engineering, technology and mathematics (STEM).

Aue said she was originally going to decline the award as there were a lot of people in the community who do not get recognised behind the scenes.

“I have to thank my family, my friends and the amazing community that we’re all part of.”

Sport
Teremoana Maua-Hodges said she “just about choked” on her cup of tea when she found out she had received the Queen’s Service Medal.

Maua-Hodges has been given the award for her contribution to sport and culture.

She said the award was the work of many people — including her parents — who travelled to New Zealand from the Cook Islands when she was a child.

“I’m very humbled by the award, but it’s not just me,” Maua-Hodges said.

“I stand on the shoulders of different heroes and heroines of our people in the community.

“It’s not my award, it’s our award.”

Maua-Hodges said the most important thing she had done was connect Cook Islanders.

“Uniting Cook Islanders who have come over from different islands in the Cook Islands and then to come here and be united here within their diversity makes me very proud.

“They’ve taken on the whole culture of Aotearoa but still as Cook Islanders . . .  to show their voice, to show their flag, in the land of milk and honey.”

The Queen’s Service Medal will be renamed the King’s Service Medal once the necessary processes are done, and the updated Royal Warrant is approved by King Charles.

Pasifika recognised in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List for 2022:

Dame Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit: Dr Teuila Mary Percival — for services to health and the Pacific community.

Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit: Nua Semuā Silipa — for services to Pacific education.

Honorary Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit: Meleane Pau’uvale — for services to the Tongan community and education.

Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit:

Mary Puatuki Aue — for services to education, technology and Pacific and Māori communities.

Dr Ofanaite Ana Dewes — for services to health and the Pacific community.

Fa’atili Iosua Esera — for services to Pacific education.

Dr Siale Alokihakau Foliaki — for services to mental health and the Pacific community.

Keni Upokotea Moeroa — for services to the Cook Islands community.

Talalelei Senetenari Taufale — for services to Pacific health.

Dr Semisi Pouvalu Taumoepeau — for services to education and tourism.

Honorary Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit: Fa’amoana Ioane Luafutu — for services to arts and the Pacific community.

Queen’s Service Medal:

Joseph Davis — for services to the Fijian community.

Reverend Alofa Ta’ase Lale — for services to the community.

Teremoana Maua-Hodges — for services to sport and culture.

Putiani Upoko — for services to the Pacific community.

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

One of the people funding New Zealand’s two-week-old Parliament grounds occupation says it makes no sense to maintain a quarantine system at the border now that covid-19 cases are rife in the community.

Red Stag, which has business interests in forestry, timber, property development, and tourism, is helping to fund the protesters’ efforts.

Chief executive Marty Verry said he hoped they could bring about changes in the government’s vaccine mandate and border policies.

• LISTEN: ‘Of course I’m not happy with some of the antics’ – Red Stag chief executive Marty Verry
• READ MORE: Covid-19 update: 2846 community cases today, 143 people in hospital
• Other NZ covid outbreak reports
• Follow RNZ’s live updates on the protest

Early today one person was arrested at the Parliament grounds protest after attempting to drive a car into a group of police officers. Two others were also arrested for obstruction as police described the protesters antics as “disgraceful”.

Police, some with shields, have been moving the concrete barriers to reduce the protesters’ ground around Parliament.

At least three officers needed medical attention after being sprayed with an unknown substance by protesters as they resisted the police actions.

The Ministry of Health reported today a record 2846 new community cases of covid-19 with 143 people in hospital with the virus

‘Not happy with antics’
Verry told RNZ Morning Report he did not support the protesters sending death threats to politicians and government workers.

“Of course I’m not happy with some of the antics – nobody is.”

However, at the same time the government had “restricted the movement and the ability for thousands of businesses to do business for the last few years”.

Verry would not say how much money he had donated to the protesters or how long he had been giving them money.

“For me the protest is a way to get the government to listen and to make changes earlier than it otherwise would,” he said.

“So for me the major axe to grind I’ve got is with regards to what I’m seeing as to whether there is any justification now to maintain a quarantine system at the border for international tourism.”

He said it had previously been an $18 billion earner for the country.

Supports protest to help economy
He supported protest if it could help resurrect a vital part of the economy, especially when rapid antigen tests could be used so readily to detect the virus among international travellers.

By his calculations one positive case would have got through the border using rapid antigen tests on Friday — the same day the country had 1929 community cases.

“So what’s one extra person coming in across the border to constrain an $18 billion sector…

“There is no justification for keeping the borders closed because we’ve got one extra person with a cold.”

Verry was contributing a sum of money that he said was “not a significant” amount to a website that was collecting donations to pay for the infrastructure at the Parliament grounds.

He expected his donation would pay for “food, toilets, shelter, whatever they want to put it to”.

The government of Vanuatu has convened three major tourism and travel stakeholders this week to announce a major shakeup in the sector.

Dubbed Shared Vision 2030, the plan commits Air Vanuatu, the Vanuatu Tourism Office, and Airports Vanuatu Ltd to an ambitious expansion strategy.

The Vanuatu Daily Post reported yesterday that Air Vanuatu intends to build an actual international fleet of up to eight jet aircraft. Airports Vanuatu Ltd has almost completed the essential Bauerfield runway upgrade. It is also lining up support for an ambitious new facility plan that can accommodate and service Air Vanuatu’s fleet.

READ MORE: Vanuatu and New Caledonia hold historic talks on tourism

For its part, the Tourism Office is being asked to transform itself into a more dynamic organisation, in touch with modern travellers and modern tech.

The government is being asked to stump up no less than VT500 million (NZ$6.6 million) in new money every year for the next five years to back this play.

The plan unveiled on Monday raises countless questions.

Where will Air Vanuatu find the pilots? How will it finance the planes? A new Airbus A320 lists for US$101 million, and a Boeing 737-800 costs about a million dollars more.

Leasing isn’t cheap
Leasing even one isn’t cheap. How will Air Vanuatu afford 6 of them?

A new terminal isn’t just a building. It’s the air traffic control centre, hangars, fuel depot, service bays, fire-fighting and emergency response facilities, food preparation, administration… the list is long and exacting.

All things considered, a price tag of more than  VT10 billion (NZ$130 million) won’t be hard to reach.

The argument in support of the plan is simple. We can either grow now, or run the risk of our economy withering away.

Vanuatu’s economy suffered badly in 2018. Few businesses thrived, and many struggled. VAT revenues are one of the most reliable measures of overall commercial activity. They don’t look good.

Although monthly revenues have surged a few times over the same period in 2017, 2018 revenues overall were only about 10.2 percent higher than last year.

That’s a problem, because revenues should have risen at least 15 percent overall, given the 20 percent rise in the tax rate (2.5 is 20 percent of 12.5, so the rate rise is 2.5 percent, but revenues should increase by 20 percent). The trendline is pointing downward, when it should be sharply upward.

Tourism slump
Much of the commercial slowdown comes from slumping tourism revenues among traditional players. Larger resorts and hotels are struggling, to put it politely. The lucky ones are seeing 50 percent occupancy rates. The unlucky ones are far worse off.

Reduced tourism activity has effects throughout the economy, dragging industry, services and agriculture down with it.

Tourism officials are quick to crow about ‘record’ air arrival numbers. The numbers are real, but they hide a number of problems. First, these numbers have only just managed to rebound from 2014 levels, before the twin catastrophes of cyclone Pam and the Bauerfield runway debacle decimated air arrival numbers.

Second, everyone’s strategic plan expected continuous growth through that period. But we’re barely ahead of where we were in 2014. That puts us almost five years behind schedule.

Lastly, travellers are planning differently. They’re not following the beaten path as much. The advent of social media changed the way people decide where to go, how they book their reservations, and what they do when they’re away.

Referrals matter more than ever. More people ask for input about possible destinations on social media than ever before, and a large number of people decide where to go based on what they hear.

AirBnB is affecting traditional booking patterns enough to make it hurt, especially for larger resorts. Unless arrival numbers rise significantly, it will be impossible to convince new investors to come, and some existing investors could well begin planning an exit.

No middle ground
The plan’s proponents argue that Vanuatu can either rise in popularity, or expect to be ignored by the next generation of travellers.

And based on which path we choose our economy will either grow, or shrink. There’s no middle ground, they say.

But we have to walk before we run. Tourism and travel industry experts tell the Daily Post that the first priority is getting maximum value from existing markets. Expect to see service to Melbourne announced soon, and increased flights to all existing destinations.

One insider told the Daily Post that there is a shortage of aircraft worldwide. Forbes reports that in the USA, for example, “More than three-quarters of the fleet for sale is more than a decade old, [with a] decreasing quantity and quality of less-than-decade-old aircraft.”

Vanuatu will have to acquire ‘new iron’ for its own routes, rather than trying to seduce outside airlines to come here.

One major challenge that has yet to be addressed is the 140 new pilots who will be needed to fly the fleet.

The greatest shortage in the aviation industry right now is pilots. This means more competitive salaries and better working conditions will be needed to convince commercial plots to come, and our own pilots to stay.

Air Vanuatu is holding a press conference today to discuss these and other issues. The Daily Post will be following the story as it develops.

Dan McGarry is media director of the Vanuatu Daily Post group.

• Vanuatu airport crisis

The end of French Polynesia’s airport firefighters strike has been held up in Tahiti amid a dispute between two unions, Radio New Zealand International reports.

Most grievances have been settled and outer island airports have resumed full services, RNZI reported today.

However, firefighters employed by the airport company at Fa’aa international airport on the main island of Tahiti Nui have yet to agree to return to work.

This has affected the schedule of international flights, said RNZI.

French High Commissioner Rene Bidal expressed concern at the impasse and warned that firefighters ordered to maintain a basic service risked jail if they refused to comply.

The five-day stoppage last week crippled domestic air travel to dozens of destinations and disrupted tourism.

Protocol signed
RNZI had earlier reported yesterday that Air Tahiti Nui was continuing to fly hundreds of stranded travellers across French Polynesia.

A protocol had been been signed to end part of the dispute.

The deal reached was between the civil aviation authorities and publicly employed firefighters.

However, reported RNZI, an agreement also needed to be concluded with striking firefighters hired by private airport operators.

Indonesia’s Tembagapura Immigration Office has banned two French journalists, Jean Frank Pierre, 45, and Basille Marie Longhamp, 42, from entering the country for the next six months for allegedly violating the 2011 Immigration Law.

“The activities of these two journalists were basically good. However, there was a lack of coordination with related institutions,” said Tembagapura Immigration Office head Samuel Enock in Timika, Papua.

He further explained that the two French journalists were sponsored by the national airline Garuda to carry out journalistic investigation in Indonesia.

“However, they started their work before obtaining the necessary documents, which were still being processed. As a consequence, they are banned from entering Indonesia for the next six months,” Enock said.

Pierre and Longhamp were deported from Timika to France via Jakarta on a Garuda flight on Friday.

Enock said the two journalists had not yet obtained journalist visas from the Indonesian Embassy in Paris before they started working.

“They took pictures while on a tourist visa. They also had not yet obtained a reporting permit, although both of them already had a permit from the Tourism Ministry and their activities were sponsored by Garuda,” said Samuel.

Charged with violation
They were charged with violating Article 75 (1) of the 2011 Immigration Law.

The French journalists were taken into custody when they were about to take pictures of the Cartenz areas using a helicopter rented from Happi Live Aviation.

They also planned to take pictures in Asmat, Wamena, and Raja Ampat and Sorong in West Papua.

In 2014, Thomas Dandois, 40, and Valentine Bourrat, 29, were deported after being detained for carrying out journalistic activities while on a tourist visit.

Nethy Dharma Somba is Jayapura correspondent for The Jakarta Post.

On the day of the arrival in Vanuatu of World Bank Vice President Victoria Kwakwa, tourism industry stakeholders are reportedly calling for a quick resolution to an apparent impasse over the selection of a contractor to perform the upgrades to the Bauerfield airport runway.

In late December, a World Bank procurement expert told bidders that she hoped to be able to announce the winning bid within a month of the tenders being unsealed. Nearly two months have passed, however, and no announcement has been made.

The Vanuatu Daily Post has received reliable reports that the crux of the delay is an impasse over the preferred contractor. Sources have confirmed that there are differing opinions about which one should win, and that price is a concern for at least one of the parties.

READ MORE: Vanuatu airport runway repairs usher in new tourism era

Most parties will not speak on the record because of the sensitive nature of the negotiations, but aviation stakeholders stated last week that they were ready to ask for high level government intervention in order to break the impasse.

Over the weekend, government representatives confirmed that they were willing to intervene in the process.

One political operative, who chose to remain anonymous due to the sensitivity of the affair, confirmed that a letter had been sent to a minister by tourism industry representatives, expressing concern at the economic cost of further delays.

It is widely known that several tourism operations are approaching the end of the line in terms of their ability to continue doing business at these depressed levels, and that any curbs on inflows over the upcoming peak season could spell disaster for them.

Expedited upgrade
The expedited runway upgrade bidding process had been designed with an eye to breaking ground in April, in order to ensure that any interruptions in service would not affect peak season tourist traffic.

Being able to announce completion of the runway upgrades by July might also have the effect of enticing Air New Zealand to return to scheduled service.

While arrival numbers from New Zealand are not huge, a vote of confidence from one of the most highly regarded airlines in the world would go a long way to reassuring travelers about the safety of the runway.

A completed runway upgrade might also convince Qantas to restore their code share with Air Vanuatu on their Sydney and Brisbane to Port Vila service.

Sources have confided that part of the problem stems from a lack of trust in the judgment of some parties. Vanuatu deferred to the World Bank’s choice of project manager during the emergency repair process, and later expressed regret when additional repairs were proven necessary.

Flight turned back
A Virgin Australia flight was turned back last year when additional damage was discovered on the runway, on a section that the project manager had deemed safe.

Nobody’s safety was affected because Airports Vanuatu Ltd was conducting visual inspections of the runway before every jet aircraft arrival and departure.

But the effect on the confidence of international tourism operators was palpably negative.

Parties to the negotiation have quietly accepted that the government’s position is understandable, and said that they view the Vice-President’s visit as an opportunity to “cut the knot” and move ahead with repairs to the runway.

Kwakwa is visiting the country to sign an agreement establishing a country office in Vanuatu.

She was joining at a signing ceremony yesterday by Minister of Infrastructure and Public Utilities, Jotham Napat, and Finance Minister Gaetan Pikioune.

Dan McGarry is media director of the Vanuatu Daily Post group.

• More airport upgrade delays

ANALYSIS: By David Robie

Just having missed the shootings by a US veteran at Florida’s Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport last Friday by less than a couple of hours after returning from a Caribbean vacation, I have been following the aftermath with intense interest.

From the safety of Little Havana in Miami, I have monitored the Spanish and English-language press (almost 60 percent of the population are Hispanic speakers) and live local television reports on the Fort Lauderdale massacre.

What has struck me most is that several key issues have barely been covered in the media soul-searching, topmost being the bizarre gun culture itself.

A professor commenting on CNN about another issue – the fate of the so-called Obamacare “universal” health law after Donald Trump is inaugurated next week – compared the US culture unflatteringly with the European citizens’ sense of “commonwealth” described his countryfolk as “still cowboys”.

This sentiment was reflected in at least one letter in the press. Writing in a letter to the editor in the Los Angeles Times, Barbara Rosen noted with irony:

Once again, there’s carnage.

I travel the world to countries where people have no guns but have universal health coverage. How do I explain to them that in my country we let people have semiautomatic weapons but we take away their health coverage?

So proud.

Key issues
Key issues barely covered in US media reportage include:

·       What is it about the militarist culture that leads young soldiers to fundamentally question the morality of their actions in Afghanistan, Iraq and elsewhere and drive them to carry our vengeful acts against their fellow citizens?

·       Why was there hardly any public social mourning for the airport victims (5 killed, several of them bound for holiday cruises at Port Everglades; 8 wounded)? Are Americans so used to these senseless killings that it has become something of a “norm”?

·       Is there a serious flaw in basic security design at US airports?

I’ll start with the last question first. Having just personally experienced massive airport security getting into the United States for a start (beginning with first seeking a visa waiver first a couple of months earlier, a tedious process that still lead to family fellow travellers missing the first connecting flight from Los Angeles because “Homeland Security” couldn’t find passport numbers in their system) just before Christmas, this is worth a closer look.

As another traveller noted in the LA Times: “What is striking, and unreported, is that this relatively small and contained crime scene (the shooter did not even try to move around or escape), located in the open public [baggage] area outside of the security area for the terminal at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, morphed into an airport-wide shutdown because of a serious flaw in basic security checkpoint design.

Traveller Mike Post added that the exit lanes from the terminal gates that led to the baggage claim areas had no physical barriers and only limited unarmed security:

Terrified passengers fleeing the baggage area can simply turn around and run back through the exit corridor, ignoring all those ominous warnings, and in seconds destroy hours’ worth of security screening as they surge back into the gate area, rendering the entire terminal and airfield unsecure and at risk.

This type of event was foreseeable. Such a lack of foresight and imagination by our airport security professionals is inexcusable.

When we left Florida, after travelling four hours by bus to Orlando International Airport to start our homeward journey (we had connecting flights to Fort Dallas, Texas, and Los Angeles to Auckland with American Airlines — Qantas flag booking), two of our five suitcases for four people had their padlocks cut open by Homeland Security. A notice from Transport Security Administration was deposited inside the bags by the time we left LA for Auckland. It said:

To protect you and your fellow passengers, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is required by law to inspect all checked baggage. As part of this process, some bags are opened and physically inspected. Your bag was among those selected for physical inspection.

During the inspection, your bag and its contents may have been searched for prohibited items. At the completion of the inspection, the contents were returned to your bag.

If the TSA security officer was unable to open your bag for inspection because it was locked, the officer may have been forced to break the logs on your bag.

TSA ‘apology’
The TSA notice apologised for the action but said the agency was “not liable” for damage.

The lack of public mourning over the Fort Lauderdale deaths was quite extraordinary for us, having recently visited Nice’s Promenade des Anglais Rotunda where on public display is “the outpouring of community love” for the victims of Tunisian truck driver who went on a shooting rampage on Bastille Day last year.

USA Today reported that four days after the 26-year-old accused Alaska-based gunman Esteban Santiago – decorated for his combat service in Iraq — opened fire inside Fort Lauderdale Airport, no vigils or public memorials had been held for victims.

Previous mass shootings have stirred emotions from people in the communities in which the tragedies took place…

While people hurt in the shooting are being supported by their families and friends, there has been a lack of visible response from the general Broward County community.

In addition to a lack of memorials, no official GoFundMe accounts have been created. A single bouquet of pink flowers was left on a bench outside the baggage claim area of Terminal 2. Less than an hour later, it was gone.

‘Routine part of life’
The newspaper also quoted the head of the department of psychiatry and behavioural sciences at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Dr Charles B. Nemeroff, saying US citizens had become “inert” to this sort of tragedy, “as if it is almost a routine part of life” in America.

Rarely did I see reports raising the basic issue about the US gun culture and how urgent it is to change the Second Amendment about the American citizens’ constitutional right to “bear arms”.

According to The Guardian, no other developed country in the world has “anywhere near the same rate of gun violence as the USA. The US has nearly six times the gun homicide rate of Canada, more than seven times that of Sweden, and nearly 16 times German’s rate, according to United Nations data compiled by The Guardian.

The gun deaths are also a major reason why the United States has a far higher suicide rate (including non-gun deaths) than other developed nations.

There are more than 310 million civilian guns in the United States, almost equivalent to one for every man, woman and child in the country with a population of 324 million.

• Accused airport shooter Esteban Santiago is told his maximum sentence is death

Professor David Robie is editor of Asia Pacific Report. This article was first published on his Café Pacific blog.

Homeland Security official website

“An ambitious new plan to improve Vanuatu’s aviation and tourism sectors” is relegated to second place on Radio Vanuatu News today.

But the Vanuatu Daily Post links work for the new Bauerfield terminal and a massive hotel project at Melcoffe on page one.

Certainly the projects are huge and China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation is a large company and is considered to have served Vanuatu well so far, the new jobs signed for yesterday having the additional security of a “bankable feasibility study” by March next year for independent consideration and protection of government finances.

This is a matter which will invite serious criticism and the Vanuatu Daily Digest has strong views on the subject.

An eight level five star resort is planned for immediately opposite the Daily Post building, adjacent to the Russet Plaza building, on Fatumauru Bay, costing Vt 3 to 4 billion (NZ$38 to $51 million).

The Vanuatu Daily Digest believes “no large scale commercial or tourist development should take place until the Port Vila Municipal Council employs a team of qualified town planners, and has solid zoning and urban development plans” in place to balance transport, infrastructure and community needs with commercial development.

Urban planners must be made to present their findings publicly and justify obvious bottlenecks as with the developments opposite Kaiviti and the Russet Plaza itself.

The new Bauerfield terminal is planned to be on the other side of the present runway, to the north of the existing terminal.

Airports Vanuatu Limited chairman Bakoa Kaltongga said the project was worth US$60–90 million (Vt 6.5–9.7 billion) and would bring to reality the Code E status for the airport to enable longer haul aircraft to use Bauerfield in their schedules, especially assisting Asian business and pleasure travellers.

In other news, an administrative change to legislation which will enable newly elected MPs to be sworn in as soon as elected rather than await the next sitting is the lead item on Radio Vanuatu News today.

This was voted on this week, before Parliament was dissolved. It sounds so much more efficient.

Bob Makin writes for Vanuatu Daily Digest.

International law firm Blue Ocean Law and the Fiji-based regional non-governmental organisation Pacific Network on Globalisation (PANG) have released a report detailing the risks and pitfalls of deep sea mining for Pacific peoples in light of governments’ inadequate regulatory frameworks.

Titled Resource Roulette: How Deep Sea Mining and Inadequate Regulatory Frameworks Imperil the Pacific and its Peoples, the report is an independent legal and policy analysis of the deep sea mining (DSM) legislation of 14 Pacific Island nations, and includes in-depth case studies of DSM in Fiji, Papua New Guinea and Tonga.

“The report examines not only the absence of requisite indigenous rights and environmental protections in existing legislation, but the capacity of Pacific Islands to implement and enforce laws purporting to regulate deep sea mining,” said attorney Julian Aguon of Blue Ocean Law (BOL).

Insights gleaned from months of fieldwork and interviews with various commentators and experts have revealed that many countries are vastly under-resourced in terms of policing DSM activities in their waters.

As a result, countries which undertook DSM at this early, experimental stage, risked incurring great environmental and social harms likely to affect indigenous and coastal communities.

Moreover, Pacific countries may garner little to no revenue, and in some cases, actually lose money from expenses associated with DSM, including high-risk equity investments and costly environmental clean-up, as well as arbitration and other legal proceedings.

The report also documents impacts from exploratory DSM on PI nations’ fisheries and tourism sectors, which have already been felt in countries like PNG and Tonga.

Consent failure
These impacts are compounded by the failure to obtain the free, prior, and informed consent (FPIC) of indigenous peoples and other affected communities, and represent the opposite of a precautionary approach to hazardous industrial ventures — both required under international law.

“Countries in the region, particularly in Melanesia, have been rushing into agreements with mining companies without bothering to consult with or obtain the FPIC of indigenous peoples or affected groups,” said PANG coordinator Maureen Penjueli.

“This rush to mine is largely a result of pressure from industry and foreign governments, and has resulted in legislative frameworks favourable to mining operators, which minimise the risks of DSM and lack enforceable human rights and environmental provisions.”

Given the high number of poorly regulated, unprofitable terrestrial mines in the region, Pacific countries are advised to adopt a cautious approach exemplified by a growing number of countries, including Australia, New Zealand and Mexico, and enact moratoria on DSM until comprehensive scientific studies can be done on the deep ocean ecosystem.

The BOL-PANG report has been published by the University of South Pacific and is available on the online library catalogue.

The report can also be accessed from the BOL and PANG websites.

It is anticipated that the report will serve as a useful tool for indigenous communities, civil society organisations, and governments currently facing the prospect of DSM in their waters.

This report was developed by Blue Ocean Law (BOL) and the Pacific Network on Globalisation (PANG).

Resource Roulette – the full BOL-PANG report

Imagine With Me is a new Vanuatu Tourism Office promotion video shot in several spectacular locations around Efate island by local production studio Whitelight Media, featuring and narrated by Miss Vanuatu, Valérie Martinez.

Many of the shots have been filmed using a drone, which gives a new perspective on some familiar Efate landmarks.

• Vanuatu Tourism Information

With more flights to return in coming weeks, key industry developments and an exciting, integrated marketing campaign to be rolled out by Vanuatu Tourism Office, the coming months are set to be a turning point for Vanuatu.

Runway repair work was completed in April by New Zealand contractors Fulton Hogan and the Minister for Infrastructure and Public Utilities, Jotham Napat, has appointed an Airport Taskforce to finalise negotiations with the World Bank loan for the second phase of repairs.

Vanuatu Tourism Office’s general manager, Linda Kalpoi, is thrilled that the first phase is complete and says it is a boost for Vanuatu’s tourism industry.

“This is such an important moment for the tourism industry and we are looking at the completion of this first phase as a launching point for the next exciting stage of tourism for our country,” Kalpoi says.

“The Minister for Tourism, Joe Natuman, has announced an all-important recovery campaign, which will roll out in Australia and New Zealand over the next few months.

“The integrated ‘Discover What Matters’ marketing campaign will include travel trade education, public relations and digital marketing, all developed to inspire and motivate people to book their holidays to Vanuatu and to reconnect with themselves and loved ones.”

Aligning with the campaign launch, the tourism industry is busy finalising new developments and improvements that will once again position Vanuatu as a leading holiday destination.

Some of these developments include:

• Iririki Island Resort and Spa reopening its door this week after impressive renovations
• Global brand, the Holiday Inn, reopening in coming weeks, following repairs
• A brand new Ramada property, Akiriki Resort, is well underway
• The iconic restaurant Tamanu on the Beach is undergoing a major upgrade, including additional accommodation options and is set to open October 1.
• Air Vanuatu announcing increased weekly flights from Brisbane, Sydney and Auckland commencing June 1.

The next phase of the rehabilitation will see the airport meet Code E specifications which will allow it to cater for long-haul flights from wide bodied aircraft – opening the door to more travellers from around the globe.

This news item is republished with thanks to Vanuatu Daily Digest.

• Trade updates on Vanuatu: www.vanuatuspecialists.com.au

By Dan McGarry in Port Vila

A group of 16 New Zealand-based travel agents, tourism industry representatives and media professionals were welcomed “back” to Vanuatu last weekend.

The purpose of the trip, organised by the Vanuatu Tourism Office (VTO), was to raise awareness about Air Vanuatu’s new Boeing 737-800 aircraft, the completion of emergency runway repairs and simply to remind New Zealanders of the country’s many charms.

The visit is part of a campaign to revive tourism from Vanuatu’s nearest neighbours.

Air arrival numbers fell drastically following January’s suspension of service to Port Vila by Air New Zealand and Virgin airlines, and the cancellation of code shares with Qantas.

The group visited a number of sites on Efate and Espiritu Santo islands, and were treated to a special preview of the nearly-ready Iririki Island resort.

The official grand opening is scheduled for next week but resort management didn’t want to miss the chance to offer the group a sneak peek at the rejuvenated and renovated island resort.

Arriving Saturday via Air Vanuatu, the contingent was welcomed by VTO staff.

Briefing update
Airports Vanuatu Ltd chief executive Jason Rakau provided the representatives with a briefing update on airport runway repair.

In a brief question and answer session after the briefing, one visiting tourism representative asked Rakau whether he felt the Air New Zealand move had been indeed motivated by safety concerns, or whether it had in fact used the runway debacle as an excuse to stop serving a route that, in the wake of cyclone Pam, was only marginally profitable.

“I don’t want to speculate,” replied Rakau, who went to to draw the attention to a Vanuatu Daily Post news story concerning the Civil Aviation Authority’s recent decision to deny Air New Zealand permission to operate a charter flight in the absence of a decision to resume commercial operations to Bauerfield airport.

Another tourism professional asked about the potential for disruption to travel schedules in the future as works progress on the second stage of repairs and upgrades to the airport.

Rakau reminded those present that the first round of repairs had been completed with minimal delays and on-budget without any disruptions to arrival and departure schedules.

He reassured them that there was no reason to expect delays or unnecessary disruptions as upgrades continue.

The contingent departed Vanuatu yesterday.

Vanuatu police have appealed to the public to remain calm and have warned drivers and owners of public transport to ensure they provide a high quality service and start behaving professionally.

During his visit to the Vanuatu Tourism Offiice this week, Deputy Prime Minister Joe Natuman was informed that their staff have pulled away after the issue at the wharf escalated by the alleged stoning of an Adventures in Paradise bus and the alleged abduction and assault of a tour employee by some drivers at the wharf.

The VTO information officers, who are normally the first people to meet tourists before the bus and taxi divers, play a vital role in equipping tourists with information about available tours.

Natuman was told that the main reason they pull out of the wharf during cruise ship days was for safety.

“Agencies and police are working on the wharf issue,” said Natuman.

According to the first political adviser to the Minister responsible for Tourism, George Iapson, seven of suspects had surrendered themselves to the police to give their statements.

They were due to appear before the Magistrates Court yesterday afternoon.

“I hope we learn a lesson from this incident and that is to teach our people to respect the work you are doing for the industry,” Natuman said.

The Deputy Prime Minister’s visit to the VTO is part of a series of visits which he began last week to the departments under his ministry.