Families of missing 12 worried

By JIMMY KALEBE and LULU MARK
Twelve people who went missing in an outboard motor dinghy in the Vitiaz Strait between Sialum and the Siassi islands of Morobe earlier this month have not been accounted for and families are worried about their whereabouts after 15 days.
A Siassi village court magistrate, two primary school teachers and four students are among the 12 who went missing on Feb 11. The Vitiaz Strait gained worldwide notoriety when on Feb 2, 2012, — seven years ago — mv Rabaul Queen sank off Finschhafen in PNG’s worst maritime tragedy that claimed nearly 170 lives.
Son of the missing Siassi village court magistrate, Malai Manzaum, is not happy with the way authorities have been addressing the issue.
Manzaum said authorities had not done enough to address the sea mishap. “From the second day of them going missing, up till now, we have been trying to contact all sources for information on their whereabouts but to no avail,” Manzaum said.
“My father, Manasseh Madovai, is the island’s chief and magistrate. People on the island are worried.”
Manzaum checked with the Morobe Disaster Office yesterday but was told it had no information.
Madovai’s brother, David Obedi said no support had been given by the Morobe Disaster Office.
He said they were told that the weather was rough and there was no fund to hire helicopters for a search.
“They were travelling when the weather condition was bad but it has to be understood that they had to make that trip,” he said.
“The teachers were returning from Lae after visiting the education office. Students were travelling back to school. Like all other maritime provinces, banana boat is their only means of transport.
“The villagers have no resources to conduct a search-and-rescue and are counting on the government to help them.”
Morobe police commander Alex N’Drasal said the incident was not reported to police.
“This incident has not been reported to police as yet,” he said.