**** Government Releases Funding for Relief Activities in Flood Affected Gulf and Southern Highlands **** The Prime Minister Hon. Peter O’Neill CMG MP, has announced the government will make available the resources to provide immediate relief to people affected by serious flooding in the Gulf and Southern Highlands provinces. Acting on information provided by the office of the National Disaster Centre, the Government will make available five million Kina (K5,000,000) for response and relief efforts. “The flooding has affected people in the two provinces differently and the government is working to ensure appropriate resources are mobilized,” the Prime Minister said. “The most recent assessment is that the situation in Gulf Province is stabilizing, while the in Southern Highlands Province the situation is evolving. “In Gulf Province around K600,000 has already been dispersed by National Disaster Centre for the emergency provision of tarpaulins for shelter as well as food and water supplies. “This is being transported by military barge from Port Moresby to affected areas and distributed by smaller boats. In areas that are inaccessible by boat the PNGDF will use helicopters to transport relief supplies. InterOil is providing further assistance in support of relief operations.” The Prime Minister said that the situation in the Southern Highlands is less apparent due to ongoing bad weather hampering assessment activities. “A rapid assessment team is on standby but it has been unable to access the flood area due to low cloud cover. We now expect this assessment to be ready by tomorrow morning and will provide a clearer picture of the relief required. “An initial K200,000 has already been dispersed for emergency supplies to be delivered by the most seriously affected in areas in the Southern Highlands that are accessible.” The Prime Minister said response to occurrences such as severe flooding is always complicated with different areas experiencing different stages of the deluge. “While one area might require an immediate response due to current danger such as rising water, another area might have already seen the water recede but new concerns emerge such as access to shelter, and clean food and water.
Posted on: Fri, 11 Jul 2014 01:08:18 +0000
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