Call to give aid fairly

 DISASTER affected people living in the rural areas of Southern Highlands are calling on the provincial disaster office to be fair and give relief aid to all affected villages.

Cedric Apon, a youth leader from the Kagua-Erave district, said many times the majority of the people missed out on relief food supplies while those living close to road links benefit.

He said priorities were given to worst affected areas and others who faced minor problems were forgotten, forcing people to seek refuge. 

“The monies for relief supplies are funded by the National Government and we want the disaster committees to visit every LLG wards and make assessments,” he said.

Apon said he saw hundreds of people with photographs and letters neatly packed in envelopes lining up at Agiru Centre in Mendi town to claim money for damage done to their properties.

He said the committees must set up a team to visit those affected areas to prove and make recommendations.

“Some are taking photographs of small landslides or areas people do not live in and are giving false information to the disaster office,” he said.

He said the money is earmarked for the disaster affected people to give them hope to reestablish their shattered lives.

Apon said people living close to town were fortunate to go to town with their envelopes, while those unfortunate ones living in the remote areas accessible by air were struggling and missing out from the relief supplies.

However, a source from the provincial disaster office said the K500,000 cheque for relief funded by Governor William Powi has not been drawn because of printer error.

The source said disaster committees were compiling all reports from coordinators in the districts to be submitted to provincial executive council and later to national executive council.