Solomons disaster destroyed 6000 houses
Pastor Dale Morgan
Solomons disaster destroyed 6000 houses*
From correspondents in Port Moresby
June 04, 2007 11:18am
Article from: AAP
THE Solomon Islands earthquake and tsunami on April 2 destroyed or
severely damaged more than 6000 hosues, the country's disaster
management office says.
In its latest assessment report following the 8.1 magnitude quake, the
National Disaster Management Office said 52 people were confirmed dead,
40 people were seriously injured and more than 36,000 were directly
affected by the disaster.
Many people remain in makeshift hilltop camps too afraid to return to
live by the seaside.
Some communities were refusing to clean up their devastated villages and
were waiting on the Solomons government to rebuild their homes, the
Solomon Star newspaper reported.
The disaster office said 302 communities on islands across the northwest
Solomons were affected, with 3251 houses destroyed and 3047 damaged by
the quake and tsunami.
Some villages were flattened by the sea's surge and the death toll would
have been in the hundreds or even thousands if the quake and tsunami had
struck at night instead of in the morning.
The Government has signed an agreement with the Asian Development Bank
for assistance in drafting and co-ordinating a recovery action plan,
co-funded by the European Union and other development partners.
The project includes funding the rebuilding of 35km of roads, 29
bridges, four wharves, a jetty and the town water supply and sanitation
system for the region's biggest town of Gizo.
The Solomons Red Cross is providing tools for community rebuilding
projects and Save the Children, UNICEF and NZAID are distributing 200
school-in-a-box kits to help get classes up and running again.
The quake raised parts of the island of Ranongga up to 3m, exposing
large areas of inshore coral reef.