Thousands at risk of hunger and disease

(Photo from The Age)

The Solomon Islands is facing a major humanitarian crisis after the earthquake and tsunami, with tens of thousands of people at risk of hunger and infection due to isolation from relief efforts.

The official death toll has risen to 24. 13 villages are reported to have been destroyed. Some 50-60,000 people have been left homeless - that's more than 10% of the population!

Thousands of people continue to stay up in the hills overlooking Gizo, too scared to return to the coast but also with extremely limited access to food, water and shelter (drinking water has been destroyed by landslides and sea water). It is likely that the numbers of dead, injured and homeless will continue to rise, not only as a result of the initial hazard event, but because the Solomon Islands Government has warned that it could take 2 days to deliver aid to the area.

RAMSI officials have expressed frustration that their capacity to respond has been limited by the lack of an invitation to join relief efforts by the Solomon Islands Government. It is likely that recent tensions between RAMSI and the Solomon Islands Government plays a role in this, however the National Disaster Management Office has said that the Government needs to assess the area before it can determine what role RAMSI can play in relief efforts...sounds fair to me, although I'm not there on the ground!!

It should be noted that Australian newspapers and television news reports have neglected to mention that while the Solomon Islands has suffered an extroardinarily serious disaster, Solomon Islanders are also incredibly resilient. This was emphasised by Danny Kennedy - owner of the dive shop in Gizo - on Triple J yesterday, who noted that Solomon Islanders are incredibly tough and are already mobilising to respond to the need in their own communities. The coping strategies of local people must be recognised for relief efforts to be effective.