The Chief Secretary to the Government, Sir Manasupe Zurenuoc, Kt (LL.B) OBE, said today that the national government will increase disaster management resources for people affected by flooding in the Gulf and Southern highlands Provinces.
“Following on from earlier comments by the Prime Minister, the scale and impact of the damage in Gulf and Southern Highlands continues to increase,” Sir Manasupe said. “An additional allocation of direct assistance of three million Kina to Gulf Province and two million Kina to Southern Highlands province to manage response and recovery in the area. “This brings the total allocation to ten million kina that will be used to deliver emergency supplies and to restore services. “There are a lot of people who have lost everything. Their farms have been washed away, roads washed out and electricity supplies interrupted. “The priority is providing shelter and re-establishing supply chains so that food, water and medical supplies can be distributed. “We would like to see all government agencies to be offering assistance to these areas. “We are currently monitoring the flooding Aitape over the past week and will be prepared to allocate resources as required.” The Chief Secretary said he was aware of problems in dispersing the initial allocation and this has since been rectified with the money having been distributed. In allocating the funding, Sir Manasupe said that the government expected that all provinces in the nation to be proactive in preparing Provincial Disaster Management Plans so as to prepare for future disasters. “One thing that we can be sure of is that natural disasters are a fact of life that will continue to strike and we must prepare in advance. “I note that some provinces have with delivered or are drafting their disaster management plans. “The Government will work with provinces that need to do more work on their plans, but this should be a priority.” The Chief Secretary said that while it not possible to prevent most forms of natural disaster from occurring, all levels of government has a responsibility to work together and reduce the devastating effects. Comments are closed.
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