It is raining now in Port Moresby. Elsewhere in the
country, the rain in recent weeks has played havoc on the lives of the people.
In Tari, Hela Province, a massive landslide buried an entire village and the
search for 25 people who were buried alive is still continuing.
While the rescue and relief operations are still continuing, merchant ships together with officials from the Australia and PNG Maritime Safety Authorities are combing the heavy seas off Finschhafen in Morobe Province to locate more than 120 people who are missing from one of the worst disasters on the seas of PNG.
At about 5am yesterday, MV Rabaul Queen capsized in rough seas, loaded with 350 people, mostly students who were returning to Lae to go back to schools from their holidays.
By 12 midnight, 230 of those people were brought to Lae and they are safe on dry land while the fate of the others is not known. In the dark night and under rough conditions, the search is going to be hard.
Disasters, either on land or on the seas, will continue to occur in this country. We, as a country, will not escape and our people will continue to suffer. It is time, the Government gave the attention the National Disaster and Emergency Services(NDES) in this country deserves.
This is the agency of government that has been called on to attend to such disasters in the past and it will continue to play a very important role in the rescue and relief operations in the future.
What has become obvious in the disasters in recent times is that the NDES does not have the capacity to deal with such disasters.
We have said this over and over again and we must say it. The Government must provide the money and the resources needed by the disaster and emergency service to launch rescue and relief operations quickly.
It must be equipped with the planes, helicopters and boats, installed the latest technology available on these transport to respond to distress calls or disasters promptly.
The NDES, we understand, has offices in all the provinces. These offices must be upgraded and equipped as well. They must be trained and based in all the disaster centres around the country.
The NDES must also employed people and provide training for them to carry out operations at times of disasters.
We, as a country, cannot continue to depend on Australia to come to our help. In all the past disasters, we have relied on our nearest neighbour to come to our aid but this cannot continue for ever. This country is prone to volcanic eruption, landslide, earthquakes, floods and almost every known disasters.
Over the years, the country had experienced all these disasters and the frequency of these disasters are increasing in recent years.
Helped by global warming, these disasters are sure to increase as years go by and the need for PNG to be prepared is more pressing than ever before. We repeat our call for the Government to build the capacity of the NDES and it must happen quickly.
At the same time, the government must also improve this country’s ability to predict weather patterns and send out timely warnings.
We are not ready to respond to disasters now.
While the rescue and relief operations are still continuing, merchant ships together with officials from the Australia and PNG Maritime Safety Authorities are combing the heavy seas off Finschhafen in Morobe Province to locate more than 120 people who are missing from one of the worst disasters on the seas of PNG.
At about 5am yesterday, MV Rabaul Queen capsized in rough seas, loaded with 350 people, mostly students who were returning to Lae to go back to schools from their holidays.
By 12 midnight, 230 of those people were brought to Lae and they are safe on dry land while the fate of the others is not known. In the dark night and under rough conditions, the search is going to be hard.
Disasters, either on land or on the seas, will continue to occur in this country. We, as a country, will not escape and our people will continue to suffer. It is time, the Government gave the attention the National Disaster and Emergency Services(NDES) in this country deserves.
This is the agency of government that has been called on to attend to such disasters in the past and it will continue to play a very important role in the rescue and relief operations in the future.
What has become obvious in the disasters in recent times is that the NDES does not have the capacity to deal with such disasters.
We have said this over and over again and we must say it. The Government must provide the money and the resources needed by the disaster and emergency service to launch rescue and relief operations quickly.
It must be equipped with the planes, helicopters and boats, installed the latest technology available on these transport to respond to distress calls or disasters promptly.
The NDES, we understand, has offices in all the provinces. These offices must be upgraded and equipped as well. They must be trained and based in all the disaster centres around the country.
The NDES must also employed people and provide training for them to carry out operations at times of disasters.
We, as a country, cannot continue to depend on Australia to come to our help. In all the past disasters, we have relied on our nearest neighbour to come to our aid but this cannot continue for ever. This country is prone to volcanic eruption, landslide, earthquakes, floods and almost every known disasters.
Over the years, the country had experienced all these disasters and the frequency of these disasters are increasing in recent years.
Helped by global warming, these disasters are sure to increase as years go by and the need for PNG to be prepared is more pressing than ever before. We repeat our call for the Government to build the capacity of the NDES and it must happen quickly.
At the same time, the government must also improve this country’s ability to predict weather patterns and send out timely warnings.
We are not ready to respond to disasters now.
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