Virgin Australia announced plans to resume flights to Port Vila, the capital of Vanuatu later this month. Major airlines suspended flights in and out of Bauerfield International four months ago because of concerns over the safety of the main runway. More from Neal Conan in the Pacific News Minute.
So how does a country so heavily reliant on tourism allow it's international airport to deteriorate so badly? At a news conference at Bauerfield earlier this week, deputy Prime Minister Joe Natuman answered, "Neglect by successive governments."
Over the past few years, Vanuatu saw one government after another, each with its own aviation plan, ousted by votes of no confidence in parliament. Back in 2013, then Prime Minister Moana Carcasses worked with a company based in Singapore to develop an alternative airport. In 2014, Joe Natuman's government negotiated a repair loan with the World Bank, but he was toppled by Sato Kilman, who worked with a Chinese company, until his government collapsed amid the scandal that saw former Prime Minister Carcasses and 13 other members of parliament imprisoned for bribery.
Governments in Vanuatu tend to be unstable because of divisions going back to colonial days, when it was called the New Hebrides and ruled jointly by Britain and France. The official language, the police force, the entire government alternated day by day, which contributed to linguistic and cultural splits in addition to the tribal divisions common to many Pacific Island nations.
Earlier this year, voters elected a broad based coalition determined to make changes...asked at the news conference this week when negotiations with the World Bank will be finalized, deputy Prime Minister Natuman answered, "We need a stable government."
