Manus isle dries up

 By JASON GIMA WURI

LACK of rain in the past month has resulted in a shortage of fresh water supply for M’Buke Islanders in Manus.

With their water tanks already running dry, the villages of M’Buke and Wal Islands have resorted to fetching water for cooking and drinking from neighbouring Pokoli Island towards the mainland.

Non-government organisation World Wide Fund (WWF) representative Selarn Kaluwin in an interview with The National yesterday said that M’Buke islanders were now struggling without any rainfall and were using the catchment water creeks on Pokoli Islands to survive from.

“There has been some rainfall around the mainland of Manus but it’s unusual why there have been rain clouds forming but no rainfall on the outer islands and in particular M’Buke.

“The people of M’Buke have been living off water from Pokoli island for the last three weeks now and the islanders might find themselves in a worst case scenario in fighting dehydration,” Kaluwin said. 

He said the continuous rising sea levels during high tides on M’Buke, Wal and Pokoli islands have also contaminated the water wells.