VANUATU – The Public Service Commission (PSC) of Vanuatu has reiterated its decision to ban the use of online social media during working hours.

The PSC has decided to ban public servants from access to social media which includes Twitter, Youtube, and Facebook.

The ban comes after alleged misuse of these social media sites by public servants was brought to the attention of the Commission.

Requests have been made to the commission to soften the ban by allowing public servants to access the sites during their lunch hours but the PSC has maintained its stand for a total ban as there is no policy in place to address this issue phasising that social media does not exist as a subject in the PSC staff manual.

“Social media exists nowhere in this staff manual,” PSC Chairman, Martin Mahe said.

“The PSC seizes this opportunity to re-emphasise on the importance of efficiency and effectiveness of all public servants at all government levels and will not tolerate unnecessary use of social media that can hamper the quality of service delivery to the people of Vanuatu at large.

“PSC wants to reiterate that all government office equipment and internet access are provided by the government of the Republic of Vanuatu for public servants to use them in their respective work and not for other purposes.

“The current PSC staff manual does not contain such policy and the commission is assuring the civil servants that it will soon be reviewing the manual with respect to internet usage.

“On the other hand, the PSC is and will continue to fully support the principles of freedom of expression and freedom of media,” Mahe said.

“Public servants are allowed to access information such as appropriate news from any internet news website or they can send their emails to any persons to express their opinion regarding any relevant issues,” a statement reads.

Meanwhile, those who require accessing those social media services as part of their duties may fill a request form and send it to the PSC secretariat for consideration.

In emphasising the importance of information and communication technologies, the PSC is currently mediating with the office of the government’s chief information officer to negotiate with an internet service provider for Vanuatu for unlimited home internet package deal for all public servants. - VDP

Vanuatu island goes totally organic

VANUATU – The chiefs and people of Emae in Vanuatu have declared their island organic.

In collaboration with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) Farm to Table project the commitment now means the Island is required to comply with the Pacific Organic Standard.

Pacific Organic Standard consists of requirements for organic production covering plant production, animal husbandry, beekeeping, collection of wild products and aquaculture and also the processing and labelling of products derived from these activities.

The standard provides a mechanism to define the expectations for organic production.

Before the declaration, facilitators of the project approached the chiefs and people of the Island to get their approval.

As a result 290 farmers registered with the project and pledged their commitment to comply to the requirements of the Pacific Organic Standard.

Work to certify the whole island as organic has started and when it has complied with requirements it will enable Emae farmers to label their products as organic.

The next phase of the project is to train chefs and introduce organic menus in hotels and restaurants to create markets of certified organic products. Certification of the Island is expected to take up to 10 months. Vanuatu, Fiji and Samoa are the three Pacific Island Countries where such organic projects are implemented. - VDP