Attack by pirates forces MP to buy sea ambulance

Momase

Raicoast people will now have a sea ambulance that will also cater for sea emergencies in the Raicoast waters.
MP Peter Sapia made the announcement last week following the attack and robbery of 13 people from Astrolabe Bay local level government.
Sapia said the district development authority planned to buy a sea ambulance.
Raicoast people travel by sea because there are no roads and bridges connecting the district.
Sea travel is risky and many people have gone missing or died while attempting perilous journeys in small boats.
Sapia said the attack by pirates near Astrolabe Bay was the first in the area and that prompted him to buy a sea ambulance for the district.
Meanwhile, Astrolabe Bay local level government people’s advocate Molex Mabb has called on police to put more effort into dealing with piracy because it was becoming a big problem for people living along the coast.
Pirates attacked 13 people from Astrolabe Bay in Raicoast last weekend.
Mabb said the pirates ordered all the men to jump into the sea while the women were allowed to remain onboard.
The pirates too all the store goods and money and fled.
Mabb said the skipper of the boat was cut with a bush knife and shot with a catapult.
“On land we have chances to run or stand and defend ourselves but such attacks at sea is a deathtrap. We cannot afford to risk our lives fighting back,” he said.
Mabb said two men were still missing.
The LLG manager at Astrolabe Bay Dick Silandu said he called off the search for the two men last Thursday because there were not enough resources like fuel to allow them to continue.