Disease hits as aid trickles into Solomons disaster area
Pastor Dale Morgan
Wednesday April 4, 7:16 PM
*Disease hits as aid trickles into Solomons disaster area*
Disease began breaking out among victims of the Solomon Islands tsunami
on Wednesday, as aid workers urgently appealed for more water, tents and
medicine for thousands of homeless people.
Rescuers fear major outbreaks of infection in the tropical heat as
assistance trickles painfully slowly into refugee camps near the remote
towns and villages hit by an 8.0-magnitude earthquake and the tsunami it
sparked nearly three days ago.
Nervous and exhausted survivors were repeatedly jolted by numerous
aftershocks packing magnitudes of up to 6.2 as they camped outdoors on
high ground.
"Conditions are very, very difficult," Dr. George Jalini told AFP as he
appealed for aid for his makeshift hospital in Gizo, saying it was
almost impossible to prevent infections in the open-air environment.
Aircraft and ships loaded with food, water, tents, tarpaulins, blankets,
medicines and other emergency supplies began arriving in the western
islands where nearly 5,500 are homeless and at least 30 people reported
killed, with hundreds still missing.
But the victims' needs are becoming increasingly urgent as water runs
low, aid workers warned.
"The principle needs right now are for water," Nancy Jolo of the
Solomons Red Cross said in the shattered provincial capital of Gizo,
where around 2,000 people are sleeping out on hillsides.
"What we are experiencing in some of the campsites is that children are
starting to experience diarrhoea," she told the Australian Broadcasting
Corporation.
World Vision Australia chief executive Tim Costello said the water
shortage was critical as gravity-fed wells were contaminated with salt
water while food supplies had been lost.
"People's food has all been destroyed," he said. "The villages are all
on the seaside and they have been completely destroyed and crap and muck
all washed over them so there's no food."
Gizo, a popular diving and fishing spot with a population of about
20,000, was one of the worst affected areas, lying just 45 kilometres
(28 miles) from the epicentre of Monday's quake, which triggered an
immediate tsunami.
Hendrik, who goes by one name, said the 600 people of his tiny fishing
village near Gizo were staying inland because of fears of another tsunami.
"We need shovels, we need tents to make this place safe, or people will
get very sick in the next few days," he said.
Solomon Islands government communications director Alfred Maesulia said
aid was starting to flow into some of the stricken areas that lie some
2,600 kilometres (1,600 miles) east of Australia.
He said a New Zealand Air Force cargo plane had delivered several
hundred bags of rice and other supplies such as tents and water
containers to Munda, a town near Gizo.
Another C-130 cargo plane from Australia was due to arrive Thursday with
more supplies and two more ships carrying aid left the capital Honiara
during the day.
The French government said it was flying a planeload of emergency
supplies and water treatment equipment Wednesday from its nearby
territory of New Caledonia. Other countries, including the United States
and Fiji have also offered help.
Six doctors and 13 nurses travelled to clinics being set up in the
affected areas, which include some of the most isolated islands of the
impoverished South Pacific country.
Deputy police commissioner Peter Marshall said three large police
vessels and aircraft were distributing aid to priority areas identified
in an aerial survey of the devastation Tuesday.
He said the flyover of the affected areas in Western province and
adjoining Choiseul province had not revealed any evidence of large-scale
fatalities.
"There were very obvious areas of destruction to villages and landslips
around the various locations," he told AFP, adding many villages had
been deserted.
But he said the death toll of about 30 was still expected to rise.
Police were checking reports from villagers that up to 12 bodies were
seen floating in the sea near Simbo island, southeast of Gizo.
Among those killed on Simbo were a bishop and three others, who died
when the tsunami slammed into their church during an ordination ceremony.