By CLIFFORD FAIPARIK
Relief supplies for the Oro people living along the border of Milne Bay province were distributed from Alotau by the Milne Bay provincial disaster officers National Disaster Centre co-ordinator Eric Balaria said yesterday.
He said they could assist their counterparts in Oro province to distribute the supplies because of the difficulties in the coordination of logistic and communication at Popondetta.
“Individuals or organisations who were concerned for the Oro people living along the Milne Bay border, especially around the Collingwood Bay could liaise with the National Disaster office and send their donation of supplies,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Oro community in Port Moresby have opened the “Oro Disaster Appeal Fund” with the ANZ bank at Waigani, launched by Ijivitari MP David Arore and Sohe MP Anthony Nene at the Hideaway hotel in Port Moresby yesterday.
The account number is 12910373 and individuals and business houses can deposit any amount to go towards assisting the flood victims in the Oro province.
A concerned Uiaku villager Silvenus Vaso claimed that there had been no supplies to the villages around the Collingwood Bay near the Milne Bay border.
He said: “Uiaku, Kewansasap, Yamakero and other villages were being deprived by the Oro provincial disaster supplies in Popondetta. The Disaster officers are concentrating in areas around Popondetta, Kokoda, Ioma, North Coast, Oro Bay and Buna.”
However an AusAid officer who was part of the relief team in Popondetta denied this claim saying that they have delivered supplies into the Collingwood Bay area over the weekend.
“Uiaku was the distributing point, but it is not badly affected so it was not on the priority list. The worst affected villages are Kewansasap and Kekerawa and we had delivered supplies to these villages.”the officer said.
A Kekerawa village leader John Sea told The National from Kekerawa village that they have receive supplies from AusAid last Wednesday.
He said: “We took delivery of 15 bags of 10kg rice, 48 cooking oil (200ml), 60 tins of fish (50oz), eight 40l drinking water bottles, 55 blankets, 11 canvas and 450 (10l) empty water containers.
“However, the food supplies have run out as it had to be shared among 320 villagers.”