way up ..

‘Santo is on the way up ..

The Vanuatu Military Force band played; church leaders read from the Bible and preached on the duties of leaders and citizens; custom dancers invited all who felt like it to join in with them; a public barbecue and feast was open to all comers on the water front: a limited local govern ment, covering the islands of Santo and Malo, was being opened at Luganville.

Luganville, the main town on the northern island of Santo, and often itself called just “Santo,” or Santo Town, or simply Canal, on September 21 was full of visitors from all over the island and dignitaries from other islands to take part in the opening. Usually it is a quiet town, though of great charm, with many rewards for the enterprising traveller. Not too enterprising, though; at the time of the opening of Local Govern ment Council, some unlucky (and unthinking) yachties loosed off a few rounds of ammunition in the north of the island, and found themselves in Luganville’s court, charged with killing a valued pig. The week after the opening, the charge was dismis sed for lack of evidence, and the celebrating yacht beat a swift retreat, doubtless reflecting on the folly of shooting uninvited on unknown property. Other

visitors, meanwhile, were enjoy ing more obvious attractions the beautiful surrounding beaches, including exquisite Champagne Beach, the relics of World War 11, and the restaur ants few, but well worth seeking out.

But Luganville is not primarily a tourist town. It is a hard working port, a business town and, now more than ever, a political centre. It was the scene of much turmoil in the 1980 secession attempt, and only slightly to the north, at Fanafo, is the home of the Nagriamel polit ical movement. The island and the town have strong representa tion in both the governing Vanuaaku Pati (VP) and the op position Union of Moderate Par ties (UMP), and Luganville is home to the newest sizeable political party in the country, the Vanuatu Independent Alliance Party (VIAP).

This party, formed last year by disaffected VP parliamentary members, is campaigning vigor ously around Santo villages, but is not envisaging itself as becom ing a governing party after the November elections. Its newly published platform reflects this, referring to an “Alliance-backed government”, which suggests they look to forming a coalition

with the UMP. Their platforms are similar, though with some significant differences both, for example, want to reintroduce freehold title to land, but the UMP would restrict this to citi zens, and the VIAP to indigen ous ni-Vanuatu.

The party’s electoral perform ance in Santo will be an interest ing indicator of how far VP ranks have been split, now that the major goal of independence has been achieved, and of how far UMP voters will be lured away by a party that is based a little closer to home.

The new Local Government Council is made up of members of all major political parties, and some smaller ones, such as the Fren Melanesia party. Its presi dent, Dr Titus Path, is a member of the VP, and in his speech he welcomed this return of power to local people, referring to the years of colonialism, of con dominium rule and of post independence centralised rule that had intervened since Santo people last were in control of their own advancement. The 11 LGCs that have been set up cover the entire country, and devolve many administrative and some legislative powers, in accordance with the constitution and the De centralisation Act of 1980. The process of decentralisation was begun two years ago in the south, and was completed on October 7, when Efate Local Government Council was opened. The LGCs are responsible for the prepara tion and implementation of reg ional development plans, for the

collection and spending of head tax and licensing taxes, for the location and construction of schools, clinics, bridges and other infrastructure, and for legislation for the local area to carry out their duties.

These powers will bring the council much closer to the daily business life of Luganville than is the national government. The business community will be looking to the council to back up efforts made by the municipality and the newly formed Chamber of Commerce to foster economic development in the town and the region. This should not be hard; Luganville has great infrastruc tural and natural advantages a

developed network of shipping

and telecommunications, for in stance, and abundant land and manpower. However, the town is

only just recovering after three

almost static years, after the de structive looting and resultant loss of cash during the secession attempt. The last few months have seen an improvement in turnover, and there is a concerted attempt by the municipality and business community to encour age it.

The municipality has estab lished an industrial estate, not just as part of its town planning, but also as an aid to overseas investors who might feel hesitant about negotiating their own leasehold with custom owners.

Blocks already taken up on the estate accommodate companies as diverse as a soft drink bottling plant and a specialty timber mill.

Town Clark William Edgell,

Report from Vanuatu Julie-Ann Ellis

who is also president of the Chamber of Commerce, says: "I feel confident that within my two years here we’ll have it all work ed out.”

There is also great interest in developing tourism in Santo. At present, most of Santo’s tourists are divers, interested in diving the largest accessible wreck in the world, the President Coolidge, as well as other histor ical relics. However, the Cham ber of Commerce feels there are

possibilities for much greater tourist use. Tour guides have been trained, village leaders have been consulted about extending tourism beyond town limits, and extension of facilities, such as a new 100-bed hotel (the town has two hotels already), has been written into the regional develop ment plan.

But the real wealth of Lugan ville rests on its agricultural hin terland the island of Santo is indisputably the richest in

Vanuatu. Indeed, it is so rich that its development is a matter of national, and not just regional, importance. Thus, the national government, and probably over seas aid, will be involved in the longer-term development plans the replanting of old planta tions and establishment of new ones, the rebuilding of an oil mill and the upgrading of wharves and port facilities, among others.

Luganville’s real financial po tential is only just emerging. The

people who live there still feel some of the impact of the 1980 troubles. Nevertheless, with the return of business confidence and with the formation of the Local Government Council, there is a feeling of optimism about the future, expressed with character istic diffidence. When I asked people how they felt about Santo now, almost everyone gave the same answer: “Santo i kam antap smol.” (“Santo is on the way

up.”)

Julie-Ann Ellis