The Contemporary Pacific
Volume 20, Number 2, Fall 2008, pp. 475-480 

Melanesia in Review: Issues and Events, 2007: Vanuatu

Anita Jowitt

The first big story in Vanuatu in 2007 was the arrest, in January, of Peter Foster for illegal entry into Vanuatu . A high profile “conman,” Foster was facing trial in Fiji for fraud-related charges. He escaped from Fiji on board the Retriever 1, which dropped him off on Efate on 8 January. Australian Customs officials and Australian Federal Police soon became involved in the investigation, as they had concerns that the Retriever 1 was being used to smuggle drugs and guns (Australian, 19 Jan 2007). In January Foster was sentenced to six weeks imprisonment for the illegal entry and required to pay a fine. After three weeks in jail he left the country for Australia , where he went on to stand trial for fraud involving the Federated States of Micronesia . The crew of the Retriever 1 was not so lucky. The vessel was impounded in Port Vila and various weapons seized. Ultimately the only charge that resulted in a conviction was one against the skipper, Kell Walker. He had been charged with making a threat to kill another person, a threat that was made in the context of trying to extort money in a salvage scam (Public Prosecutor v Walker [2007] VUSC 61). Walker was sentenced to two years imprisonment, a sentence that was upheld on appeal.

Much more serious were the events of March, when communities from Tanna and Ambrym living in Port Vila had a violent confrontation. Rumors had circulated that some men from Ambrym had supplied some men from Tanna with sorcery, and that these Tannese men were using black magic techniques to cause deaths. The catalyst for the confrontation was the death of the wife of a prominent pastor. On the morning of 3 March, members of the communities clashed violently in the Tagabe area. Participants were armed with knives, axes, iron bars, and clubs. Police, probably scared by the mobs, did not respond, and in this initial confrontation one Tannese man was killed. This led to a mob from Tanna rampaging through the Anabrou area. The mob targeted houses owned by people from Ambrym, burning them to the ground. By the end of the day, two more men, both from Ambyrm, were dead and a number of people hospitalized. Some [End Page 475] families were also left homeless. On 4 March a state of emergency was declared. Under this state of emergency, which lasted for a fortnight, no public assemblies other than church services were permitted and police powers of detention were extended. Police were also authorized to carry arms. More than one hundred people involved in the incident were arrested or detained. The shocked Port Vila community remained calm, turning their attention to supporting the families who had lost their houses.

Little action has been taken since the incident. A commission of inquiry was established to investigate and report on the causes of the violence. In September the commission presented its report to the Minister of Justice and also made an executive summary of the report available to the public. The findings placed a lot of the blame for the incident on failures on the part of the police force. While the terms of reference stated that it was a public inquiry, the Minister of Justice ordered the media to stop publishing the findings. The full report has never been made public, which has raised suspicion that it is critical of the government. There have been no apparent or visible changes in the police following the report. A number of people were charged with offenses following their actions on 3 March, but none of these cases have come to trial yet.

Rumors of problems within the governing coalition led by Ham Lini of the National United Party (NUP) were circulating from the beginning of the year. The coalition had survived five motions of no confidence since it was established in December 2004, and numerous cabinet reshuffles have taken place. Despite the rumors no significant changes were made until early May. These changes were precipitated by the Luganville Municipal Council (lmc) elections, which took place at the end of April. The campaign period itself was fairly quiet, marred only by allegations that Serge Vohor of the Union of Moderate Parties (ump) assaulted three candidates from the Vanuatu Republican Party (VRP) (VDP, 21 April 2007). The election results were as follows: Greens Confederation (GC) 4 seats; NUP 3 seats; VRP 2 seats; Vanuatu National Party (VNP) 2 seats; National Community Association (NCA) 1 seat; and Vanua‘aku Party (VP) 1 seat. Initially a memorandum of understanding to run the Luganville Municipal Council was signed between NUP, VRP, VP, and NCA, all parties in Lini’s governing coalition. However, VRP defected, and the council ended up being controlled by a coalition of GC, VRP, and VNP, with the mayor being VNP’s Jonah Reuben. Reuben died less than two months after the election, so the composition of the municipal council is not set and Luganville will face further elections in 2008.

Vanuatu Republican Party Secretary General Marcelline Pipite, who had signed the initial memorandum of understanding on behalf of his party, was blamed for VRP’s defection. He lost his position as Minister for Agriculture and was suspended from VRP for one month. The VRP party coordinator, Siri George, was also suspended by VRP President and Minister for Lands Maxime Carlot Korman. Two weeks later Donna Browney, also of VRP, was appointed as Minister of Agriculture, thereby retaining the [End Page 476] coalition balance. Once Pipite’s suspension finished he reinstated George, a move that could be interpreted as indicating a split. In mid-June this split became apparent, with two VRP members of Parliament being in government and two in opposition. By July the issues had been resolved and all VRP parliamentarians joined together in government.

In April and May difficulties were also increasing for the Vanua‘aku Party’s George Wells, Minister of Internal Affairs. Despite being widely respected for attempting to address mismanagement in the municipal and provincial councils, Wells found himself subject to disciplinary procedures under the VP party rules. The nature of the allegations against Wells is not clear, other than vague assertions that he had failed to promote VP interests, but following these procedures the party decided to remove Wells as a minister (VDP, 12 April 2007). However, Ham Lini did not act on the decision of the party executive, and Wells remained as minister. In early June, having lost VP support, Wells chose to move to NUP. He immediately lost his position as Minister of Internal Affairs, as this was reserved for VP under the terms of the coalition agreement. Philip Boedoro took over this portfolio.

On 11 June a motion of no confidence was deposited in Parliament. Issues underlying the motion included management of the Vanuatu Commodities Marketing Board (VCMB), improper conduct of ministers, and failure by the government to deal with such conduct. The motion gained sufficient signatures when VP left the coalition. VP’s move meant that Edward Natapei, Philip Boedoro, Joe Natuman, and Isabelle Donald all lost their ministerial portfolios. Labour Party Member of Parliament Joshua Kalsakau, who had signed the motion, accepted the position of Minister of Justice. Next, the Union of Moderate Parties defected from the opposition, with Serge Vohor becoming the Minister of Public Utilities, Keasipae Song the Minister for Internal Affairs, and Charlot Salwai the Minister for Education (Independent, 17 June 2007). With ump’s move into government, the motion of no confidence no longer had sufficient support and was withdrawn. The Vanua‘aku Party also returned to the government, resulting in a small opposition of only ten members. The opposition, under the leadership of Greens mp Moana Carcasses Kalosil, formed a shadow cabinet, the first time an opposition has ever done so.

The Minister of Public Utilities portfolio includes oversight of Air Vanuatu , and Vohor soon began to make changes to the composition of the airlines’ board. Harry Iauko, a VP stalwart, and all other board members were terminated, and a new board constituted under ump’s Alfred Maliu. This new board wanted to reinstate Jospeh Laloyer and appoint former Chief Executive Officer Jean Paul Virelala as a consultant. Both of these men had been terminated in 2005, with Virelala being awarded a large compensation payment (see Jowitt 2006).

In the middle of July, news of Vanuatu ’s largest bank fraud surfaced. Three parliamentarians’ allocation checks had been altered and presented to the National Bank of Vanuatu . The members involved were Dunstan Hilton (the Minister of Youth and Sport), [End Page 477] Noel Tamata, and Malon Hops-mander, all of the Peoples Progressive Party (PPP). An Indo-Fijian, Salendra Sen Sinha, who had previously been charged with counterfeiting (although no conviction resulted) was implicated as a central figure. As the investigation went on, more people, including Andre Lesines, the former first political adviser to PPP’s Sato Kilman, were implicated. Sinha escaped Vanuatu and fled to Fiji , but others, including the three members of Parliament, have been charged, with the trial to take place in 2008.

By the end of July another cabinet reshuffle took place, in which both PPP and ump were removed. This reshuffle saw Sato Kilman lose the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to George Wells (NUP); Vohor lose the Ministry of Public Utilities to Edward Natapei (VP); Salwai lose the Ministry of Education to Leinavao Tasso (VP); and Song lose the Ministry of Internal Affairs to Joe Natuman (VP). In early August, Greens mp Roro Sambo was appointed Minister of Youth and Sport. Immediately after ump was ousted from the cabinet, Vohor alleged that the move was a result of Chinese interference, as Vohor had, in the past, supported Taiwan (see Jowitt 2005). Not much credence was given to these claims, since more apparent motivators included the behavior of Vohor in relation to Air Vanuatu and the desire for Lini to make room for VP in the cabinet. The government remained stable until the end of the year in part perhaps due to Lini’s frequent warnings that any proposed motion of no confidence would result in the dissolution of Parliament.

On 26 September the Sanma Provincial Council elections went ahead. Nine parties won seats on the eighteen-person council, with the Union of Moderate Parties, the Vanuatu Republican Party, and Nagriamel being the only parties to win more than two seats. There was some maneuvering, with an initial memorandum of understanding indicating that ump would be shut out of leadership (VDP, 3 Oct 2007), but when the council was formed the Nagriamel members found themselves outside the governing coalition, with VRP gaining the presidency and ump the vice presidency (VDP, 5 Oct 2007). This had little apparent impact on national politics, in part because political representation in Sanma is so fragmented, and many of the parties do not have representation in the national government.

Mismanagement in statutory bodies has continued to be a theme in 2007, with the government beginning to take decisive action to curb problems. As mentioned earlier, the Air Vanuatu board had been subject to political interference, a problem that has been ongoing for years. In August the board was reduced from about thirty to just seven members, a move that reduces costs and minimizes political appointments. The Council of Ministers also decided to sell 46 percent of its shares in the airline (VDP, 13 Aug 2007). The Vanuatu Maritime Authority, which has frequently faced allegations of corruption, was abolished in December, with the repeal of the Vanuatu Maritime Authority Act. The Vanuatu Commodities and Marketing Board was subject to a review in the second half of the year, and there have been media reports that the VCMB Act will be the next to be repealed. [End Page 478]

In December the government instituted the Governance for Growth program, which is supported by AusAID. This program “supports reforms that will provide better quality expenditure and public investment . . . aims to improve public financial management and statistics and . . . also supports reforms to telecommunications competition, rural electrification, commodities marketing and airline reform” (AusAID 2007). A decision to end the monopoly of Telecom Vanuatu Ltd five years earlier than planned was endorsed in the last sitting of Parliament.

Land issues are another continuing theme, particularly concerns about improper land sales. Minister for Lands Maxime Carlot Korman was the subject of several media reports alleging corruption in the signing of leases and the issuing of negotiators certificates (VDP, 21 April 2007, 23 June 2007; RNZI 4 July 2006), although he has continued in his position. The land sale that attracted the most attention involved a piece of waterfront property on Fatumaru Bay . Businesses on both sides of the land had bid to purchase it, with the land being “won” by Chantilly ’s. Allegations of improper land dealings by the Port Vila Municipal Council and the Minister of Lands arose, and a commission of inquiry into the actions of the Port Vila Municipal Council in relation to this land sale has been launched (Minister of Internal Affairs Order, 30 Aug 2007). Previously land sales have largely been focused on Efate and Santo, but now concerns over land sales on other islands, including Epi and Gaua, are beginning to surface. In a positive move to curb land disputes on Efate , the Vaturisu Council of Chiefs met for the first time in many years in February. At this meeting a set of Vaturisu custom land laws, to govern Efate , was endorsed and released. The Vaturisu also have an important role in resolving land claims being made by the Vete Association, a group from Tongoa that claims to have customary ownership of land in Port Vila.

Some issues have come up in relation to custom authorities in Vila , with the Port Vila Town Council of Chiefs being dissolved by the Malvatumauri or National Council of Chiefs in late May. The Malvatumarui claimed that the town council was not doing its job properly and was not properly representative (VDP, 12 June 2007). While the town council was soon reestablished, it raised the issue that the chiefs are being expected to maintain law and order in town and to step in when police fail, although the police are given all the resources to maintain law and order.

More general environmental issues have also been prominent in 2007. In addition to illegal logging activities on Efate (Independent, 3 June 2007), there has been concern about two Chinese-funded projects that could cause considerable environmental damage, an oil palm project on Santo and a fish-processing plant in Port Vila. Neither appears to have been subject to proper environmental impact assessment studies, and there are allegations that the establishment of the fish-processing plant is also bypassing other laws (Independent, 2 Sept 2007). Community opposition to the projects has been strong, with an association known as RAPT, or Residents [End Page 479] Against Tuna Processing in Port Vila, launching court action to try to get the development stopped.

Finally, the US Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) infrastructure development projects, which were meant to have commenced in 2007, were put on hold when the tender was annulled in December. The reason for the annulment was that all bids that were received were higher than what had been budgeted for. Reasons given included that “global and regional markets have undergone considerable change . . . including exchange rate movements, cost of transport of goods and equipment and of critical inputs for construction [and] increased demand in the regional construction marketplace” (MCA Vanuatu, 13 Dec 2007). The scope of the infrastructure project is now being reexamined.

References

AusAID 2007. Aid Activities in Vanuatu . Australian Government Overseas Aid Web site, September. http://www.ausaid.gov.au/country/cbrief.cfm
?DCon=6034_4754_8370_9688_2737&CountryID=17   

The Australian, Australian Online. http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au  

The Independent. One issue per week. Port Vila .

Jowitt, Anita. 2005. Vanuatu : Issues and Events, 2004. The Contemporary Pacific 17:456–463.

———. 2006. Vanuatu : Issues and Events, 2005. The Contemporary Pacific 18:430–438.

MCA Vanuatu , Millennium Challenge Account Vanuatu Web site http://www.governmentofvanuatu.gov.vu/MCA-vanuatu/Home/tabid/54/Default.aspx   

RNZI, Radio New Zealand International. http://www.RNZI.com  

VDP, Vanuatu Daily Post. Six issues per week. Port Vila . [End Page 480]  

Anita Jowitt is a lecturer in law at the University of the South Pacific, and has been based in Port Vila, Vanuatu, since 1997. Her research interests include law, politics, and governance; labor market issues; and corruption matters.