Disaster response still a concern

 THE National has stated previously that the response times to natural disasters have to be better coordinated and effective. 

The National Disaster and Emergency Office is hamstrung by a lack of logistical support and that hampers its capacity to provide relief and accident and emergency services to affected areas. 

More often than not the amount of time the office takes to mobilise help and get it to the place and people who need it the most is invaluable. 

It is the difference between saving 10 lives and a hundred. The most recent natural disaster to hit was the landslide along the Daulo section of the Highlands Highway last Saturday. The area from Daulo, in Eastern Highlands, through Chimbu into parts of Jiwaka, has had a history of such occurrences over the years. 

It is prone to such calamities with the steep terrain highly susceptible to natural disasters. 

The government body charged with providing aid and rescue services must have a presence in provinces that have a history of natural disasters. 

East New Britain, which has several active volcanoes, has a volcano observatory that records and assesses information from Vulcan, Tavuvur and Matupit. 

The threat of an eruption, even of the ash-spewing kind is a danger to the heavily populated Kokopo district, which skirts the Muatupit and Simpson harbours. 

If such an eruption as the one that took place in 1994 happens tomorrow, how prepared will emergency services be to respond? The loss of life is not the only consideration here. Property worth thousands of kina, and in some instances millions of kina, is affected when the elements turn on humanity. 

What we have learned from experience is that the State is limited in response. 

As an example, in the early in the morning of February 2, 2012, the mv Rabaul Queen, a passenger ferry, capsized in rough conditions off the coast of Finschhafen, Morobe. 

A joint rescue effort by Papua New Guinea and Australia was formed shortly after the sinking – 246 survivors were rescued by nightfall on February 2 but more than a 100 are still missing. Of the vessels that arrived on the scene an hour after the ship capsized none were of local origin. 

In fact, the Papua New Guinea part of the rescue operation consisted of the National Maritime Services communicating with Australian Defence Force helicopters en route to the emergency. 

The floods that hit Oro in November, 2007, caused widespread damage throughout the province. 

Not only were food gardens washed away but infrastructure such as roads and bridges were damaged and in some cases completely destroyed. 

In spite of the huge cost to taxpayers to rebuild the province there is no guarantee that if it floods again the provincial authorities will be able to manage a disaster of that magnitude. 

PNG’s 462,840 square kilometres of land pose a myriad of problems for rescuers. Services such as hospitals and the police operate on a bare minimum of supplies and equipment. 

The sudden surge in sick and injured from a disaster would no doubt place enormous stress on these services. The problem with disasters is that they strike at any time and place. 

If the agency tasked with handling these emergency situations is under-funded and under-equipped then we can expect to see more people suffer. 

Papua New Guinea’s capacity to manage its disasters is reliant on outside help, particularly from Australia. 

This country will continue to be at the mercy of nature and suffer major losses of life and property until it can build up its own capacity to meet those challenges.