Vanuatu’s former Lands Minister Ralph Regenvanu has described as disturbing indications from his successor Paul Telukluk that he will peel back the recent major land reforms.

Ralph Regenvanu (second from right) is Vanuatu’s former Lands Minister, and is warning that two years of important reforms will now be scrapped.

As minister for around two years until last month’s removal of the Joe Natuman-led government, Mr Regenvanu drove major reforms in areas including the management of customary land and putting curbs on ministerial powers to sell state land.

He says Mr Telukluk is set to change all this.

“The new minister has announced that he will repeal all the reforms that we did over the past two years so that’s quite disturbing, considering that the reforms were done on the basis of recommendations from consultations and reviews going back over ten years, and also considering the extensive work we did with Malvatumauri National Council of Chiefs on it.”

Ralph Regenvanu says Mr Telukluk appears to lack a public mandate for repealing the land reforms.