Landslide putting lives of 2000 in danger

By ZACHERY PER
THE lives of at least 2000 people at Council Camp 11th Street in Goroka, Eastern Highlands, is at risk as a landside is gradually destroying their homes, forcing them to shift backwards down a hill where there is a stream.
The affected people are blaming the erection of a gabion basket filled with rocks forming a wall built to stop a landslide from occurring that would destroy parts a power-post section of the Highlands Highway, a fuel service station, a warehouse and possibly parts of the Goroka airstrip.
Spokesman for the affected families Sogan Fiambawe and Anton Ikari said the heavyweight of nine layers of rock-filled gabion baskets about 200m long were sinking and shifting the land backwards.
“Some of the 27 family dwellings affected were removed while others are still changing shape and some of them have cracks on the floors, the doors of all the houses are hard to open or close because the surface of the land is changing and cracking,” Fiambawe said.
He said families hardly slept at night, fearing that the stone wall would fall on their house.
Fiambawe, who is a councillor in the local- level government, said many schoolchildren, public servants, company workers and settlers who resided at Banana Block 11th Street, had fled the comfort of their homes and sought shelters elsewhere.
“The impacted areas are from Allotment 7 section 1-17, if the rain persists in the next two weeks, all our houses will move backward into the backyard stream and leave 27 families without homes,” he said.
Ikari said the movement of the land cut off water and electricity supplies.
He said the families want the developer and businessman Gabriel Igaso to come and see the destruction for themselves.
“We want the developer to support us find means to rectify the situation,” Ikari said.
Igaso told the affected families that he would assist them to find an amicable way to rectify the situation.
He called on them not to disturb any technical experts who would be coming around to assess the situation and help find solution.
“I will engage professionals who can come to assess and help, so please do not disturb them but support them and they will engage you on casual employments,” Igaso said.