19 Apr 2004

Vanuatu land tribunal to meet

1:17 pm on 19 April 2004

The Land Tribunal in Vanuatu will meet this afternoon to work out how to respond to calls in Santo by a Justice Group and chiefs to get rid of them.

The Daily Post newspaper reported calls to dump the tribunal after a Working Group for Justice held an awareness campaign in the area.

A group member, Remy Vatambe, says the Land Tribunal wants to expropriate land by abolishing Vanuatu's traditional land tenure system.

The justice group believes the Land Tribunal introduces Western notions of legality to village based systems of conflict resolutions regarding land.

A spokesman for the Land Tribunal, Alick Kalmelu, says officials at the tribunal will decide their response today.