Transcript
ANDREW NAPUAT: I don't know what the arguments are in terms of going to Santo. At this stage, the relocation taskforce that went and did the assessment and everything identified Maewo to be the evacuation site, They have identified enough space of land to accommodate for all the people to be moved to Maewo. The thing at the moment is for the government to create access in terms of road and other water-related infrastructure on the evacuation site, so that people could be relocated to Maewo.
JOHNNY BLADES: Is it fair to say that because Maewo is in the same province as Ambae that it's more practical, because of the administrative factors, to move them there?
AN: That's correct. There are so many issues to consider with regards to the relocation to Maewo. It's all related to the provincial administrative concerns, and especially the support that's been given to the province, and also the cultural links that people have, and we want to continue to maintain that. And since the people of Maewo have offered to allow the people of Ambae to go there for the relocation, I think it's a good idea, where there is an island and community and chief who have all offered to accommodate the people of Ambae.
JB: There's little in the way of health or electricity services, and apparently water, on Maewo though...
AN: Electricity everywhere, on every island is the same. The situation is the same. People normally use the solar lights and generators and all of that. So it's going to be the same anyway. But for the water and other essential infrastructure needs, that's what the government and the council of ministers made a decision on, for the immediate construction of roads that go to where the relocation site is; and also other water-related infrastructure. That's something that we will be working on as a matter of urgency before the people are moved to Maewo.
JB: Some of the students who had left Ambae and are on Santo, there's been some expressions of concern about how they're getting on with their living conditions, they were struggling a bit. Is that your understanding, and what's the government doing about it?
AN: We know that some of the students are based in some of the schools in Santo. And from the reports we're getting, the students are getting on very well with the other students and teachers from other schools in Santo. Education authorities are talking with the government on how they could create other infrastructure like buildings and all of that to create a space for learning for these students of Ambae. So that's a discussion that we are having with the Education authorities.