Infrastructure

Vanuatu does not have much infrastructure.  The only areas that can be discussed are power distribution, roads, ports, airports, telecommunications and municipal services.

Power generation and distribution can only be provided by Unelco.  Unelco is a French owned company that has a legislated monopoly.  The government had a stake in the company but they have now sold it.  Unelco only provide power on Efate Island around Port Vila and on Espiritu Santo around Luganville.  They also have small generation facilities on Malekula and Tanna.  No other company may sell power but any company can provide its own power.  Unelco has a very poor reputation in Vanuatu among the business community.  Their pricing is based on lower rates for small users and higher rates for large users.  A small saw mill in the Northern town of Luganville had monthly bills from Unelco of nearly 1 million vatu ($8,700 USD) per month.   They purchased a generator and found that their fuel and maintenance costs were only 30% of the charges they had been paying Unelco.

Roads are not prevalent in Vanuatu except around the cities.  Outside the cities the roads are dirt and usually just one lane.  Road maintenance outside the cities is sporadic at best and even in the cities it is minimal.  Vehicles suffer from the poor roads.  Bridges are usually built by donor countries. 

The ports in Port Vila and Luganville are good quality and well equipped and they are professionally manned by trained Ni-Vanuatu staff.  The wharf charges are very high and they have been known to make ships wait when they arrive on a Vanuatu public holiday.  In general they should be considered to be a of good quality and sufficient for the countries needs.

There are a large number of airports around Vanuatu served by Vanair.  These airports are reasonably well maintained.  There are 3 main airports at Tanna, Luganville and Port Vila.  The airport at Port Vila can accept aircraft up to 767 and Airbus A320.  The airport at Luganville can accept aircraft up to 737-800 and could be extended for any aircraft as it was originally a bomber airfield in WWII.  A new terminal is being built at the Luganville airport.  The Tanna airport can also receive international flights with an aircraft like an ATR42 or Dash-8.  The airports are maintained by Airports Vanuatu in a professional manner and the upgrade funding comes largely from donor countries.

Telecommunications is provided by Telecommunication Vanuatu Ltd.  TVL does a good job and is the exception to the rule regarding monopolies.  They provide phone service to every major island and they are now rolling out GSM mobile phones that enable Ni-Vanuatu citizens to afford phone service.  Their prices are reasonable except for international long distance where they charge some of the highest rates in the world.  They provide quick internet access for a price that is in line with the difficulties they face.  All international traffic is via satellite as there is no fiber optic cable to Vanuatu.

Municipal services are adequate in Port Vila and Luganville.  They provide trash pick-up and street cleaning.  Water in Luganville is provided by the Municipal council and water in Port Vila is provided by Unelco.