Solomon Islands quake and tsunami: day 4

Solomon Islands

A basic geography lesson!

The two provinces affected by the earthquake and tsunami are the Western Province, and Choiseul. Western Province includes the New Georgia Islands, the Shortland Islands, and Treasury Islands.

See here for maps:
Choiseul
Western Province

Choiseul is very isolated and, I've heard, incredibly beautiful. Western Province is famous for its lagoons, which include the renowed Marovo Lagoon. It is a mecca for divers and the one area of the Solomons where tourism is thriving.

A political stand-off, or undertaking proper assessments?

• The National Disaster Management Council endorsed the PM's call for immediate assesment of the affected areas in order to determine the level of assistance needed. The Chair to the Council said the government will await the report before deciding whether to declare a state of emergency over the affected areas. AusAID, NZAid and other international agencies are waiting for official requests for help, which may be made after the assessment (here).
• A state of emergency has now been declared for Western Province, Choiseul Province, and North Ysabel.


• The PM has directed that all assistance from donors and NGO’s towards the disaster relief operations must be channeled through the National Disaster Council (NDC) for proper coordination (here).


• Some see these moves as political stalling on the part of the PM, and in The Age today (5 April), an editorial, Disaster requires unity, not dissent, notes that it is disappointing that RAMSI's efforts to respond to the disaster are being frustrated by politics because the SI Government has not invited RAMSI to fully join the relief effort. The Age asks that the SI PM "look beyond wounded national pride and accept all assistance he is offered." This is a fair request - but I wonder whether this is about politics or good emergency management. I'm sure it's about both, and the extent to which each play a role is hard to assess when I'm here in Canberra. However several people have noted that the PM is from Choiseul, and he is surely aware that the failure to provide relief will have political repercussions for him. Furthermore, if these delays are based on a genuine need to fully assess the area, this will hopefully ensure that the provision of relief is more appropriate and effective. Elsewhere in The Age, Walter Nalangu reports from Munda that Aid logjam piles misery on victims.
• John Howard contacted Mannasseh Sogavare directly yesterday, pleding more assistance.

Other notes:

• Due to the damage to shops in Gizo, people in Gizo are desperately waiting the delivery of food, shelter and water. Honiara's Chinatown may be doing well out of this disaster, as people in Honiara are buying goods and endeavouring to deliver them to the affected areas themselves. It's unclear whether this is contributing to the bottleneck (local people may be using boats rather than flying)


• The telephone service in Gizo is up and running again, but struggling to cope with the greatly increased volume of calls (in the aftermath of the Easter riots last year, I had trouble calling Honiara, as the numbers I called would connect to the wrong number!) Solomon Telekom is requesting that people avoid making unnecessary calls to the area (another way in which well meaning people can actually hamper aid efforts!)
• A camp has now been set up in Gizo for those who lost their homes in the tsunami. The tents provided by RAMSI and other organisations are still not enough to accommodate those that have lost their homes. A medical camp has also been set up to treat the wounded - many patients have cuts and wounds.
• The lack of shelter is likely to raise the risk of malaria due to lack of shelter, and cuts and wounds can become infected quickly in the tropical climate.


• It's still difficult finding out anything about other parts of Western Province, and even harder to find out much about what's happening in Choiseul. The NDMC has visited the Shortland Islands and reports that there is a desperate need for basic necessities like food, shelter and water. Kitchen buildings and their contents have been washed away, as have water tanks, church buildings, and health centres (where they exist!).
• The island of Simbo appears to have suffered the most. According to Archbishop Smith, "people have been forced to evacuate Taro Island to Moli. The island of Simbo with its active volcano has suffered a lot. The people there were caught between their constantly active volcano and then the waves and are afraid to move to higher ground. There seems to have been a lot of deaths in the Simbo area."

More aid offered

• The Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat has made FJD$20,000 available through the Regional Natural Disaster Relief Fund (here). The PIF appears to have thrown its weight behind RAMSI, with the Secretary General of the Forum Secretariat noting that "The regional resources of RAMSI (the Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands) have already been deployed to assist Solomon Islands respond to the disaster. That assistance will clearly be critical in the days ahead.”


• The Republic of China has donated $1.5 million to the SI Government for those affected by the disaster. Taiwan is providing a medical team to the affected area, and also announced the provision of solar power experts to Honiara for upgrading power infrastructure (here).
• Turkey has also announced assistance (here).
• Meanwhile, the Solomons is deepening its ties with Cuba, receiving the Ambassador in Honiara yesterday (here).

Remembering resilience, coping, and the opportunities offered by disasters

• I had a long chat with a friend from the Solomons (from the south, not from the tsunami-affected areas) yesterday, in which he reminded me of the resilience of Solomon Islanders, and the fact that disasters such as this can offer opportunities for both physical and social rebuilding. I was reminded of this again when I read of the Chinese store-owners in Gizo feeding tsunami victims.

Papua New Guinea

• There has been little news about the parts of PNG that suffered the same earthquake and tsunami. PNG's The National (4 April) reports that reports were received of a family of five going missing after a three-metre wave struck their island in Milne Bay province after the earthquake. However provincial authorities have reviewed the report and now say that those who were missing were believed to be on a boat travelling to the outer islands when high waves struck them.


• The PNG Post Courier (4 April) reports that displaced villagers along the coast of South Bougainville are still waiting for relief from authorities in Buka, and that there is still no indication as to whether a Red Cross team would be dispatched to the worst hit area in Bougainville. Villagers report that the earthquake "cut out mountain tops" which destroyed villages (I assume this means a landslide?) Locals also reported that seven-metre high waves pounded the shore, washing away the wharf, houses and gardens in coastal villages.


• The National also carries an editorial (4 April) making the point that like any other major natural hazard, tsunamis must be guarded against to the limits of the available technology. It argues that the present arrangements have "been proven unsatisfactory over and over again, with slow and inadequate responses, massive corruption, outright theft of donated goods and a host of other problems" and calls on provincial governments to explain their lack of action and provide a plan for the future.