Vanuatu delegation to apologise
Saturday October 07, 2006

A dancer from the Vanuatu group

A delegation from Vanuatu including high chiefs and senior members of the chiefly clan will present a traditional apology to the Great Council of Chiefs (GCC) on Monday.

The traditional apology presented to the GCC will be for the people of Fiji with the Vanuatu delegation undertaking a step towards reconciliation.

Multi-Ethnic Affairs Minister Ratu Meli Saukuru told Fijilive.com the delegation, which is in the country participating in the 3rd Melanesian Arts Festival have taken the opportunity to apologise on behalf of their forefathers for any wrong doing to the people of Fiji in the past decades.

"They have asked the organisers of the Arts Festival on how to go about presenting the traditional ceremony of isoro to the people of Fiji.

"This will represent their apology for their forefathers, in the Pacific region to whom the Fijian have had close ties with," he said.

Late last night, representatives from Vanuatu met with officers from the Prime Ministers' Office to help organise the ceremony.

Meanwhile, police and the Vanuatu delegation are still waiting on the autopsy report of the Vanuatu man who collapsed and died at the Stadium whilst performing.

The Vanuatu delegation with the help from the organisers and the Fijian Affairs Ministry will arrange for the body of the deceased to be taken back home, once the autopsy report is received.