Planning vital for coping with El Nino disaster

 IT seems that the Government has not learned from the lessons of the 1997-1998 El Nino event to prepare our people for the drought and frost.

Private consultant Matthew Kanua’s comments in The National (Sept 28) is true. There is a bank of data that the Government and its departments and agencies should have accessed months ago to carry out awareness on the effects of the drought and frost.

But it seems because the ministers and the secretaries of the departments are in the comforts of their homes in Port Moresby (or taking trips overseas), there has been no awareness activities carried out and now we getting reports of water and food shortages, and breakout of dysentery in many parts of the country.

As I (a non-medical person) anticipated a long time ago, the children were the first to be affected possibly because they drank water that was contaminated. 

All health workers know that the most vulnerable group – the very old and very young – will be most affected by the drought and the frost. 

The Government must now act fast in a systematic way backed by information/date from 1997-1998 to help.  

I am of the view that all heads of disaster and relief agencies who participated in responding to drought and frost relief efforts in 1997-1998 have the information but need the heads of departments like Health and Provincial and Local Level Governments, as well as the provincial heads, to work in collaboration with them to respond quickly mitigate the effects of the drought and frost.

The people in the Highlands, along Fly River and Sepik River and outer islands are in dire need of help because the Government failed to do its homework and consult the mass of data available. 

I hear a group of islanders 100km off the mainland are asking for solar desalination equipment because their water sources have dried up. They know that with that equipment, they can convert saltwater into freshwater.

But I am not sure if the Government offices know the existence of such technologies.   

A number of conferences were held and publications were produced after just after the El Nino episode in 1997-1998 but it seems they are collecting dust somewhere. 

Even with the celebrated 400-year-old Bible in the Parliament, we still seem to be ignoring all the lessons that have been taught. 

We make decisions without knowledge or information.

I am afraid a lot of people are going to suffer in the coming days as I am reminded of Hosea 4.6 which states: “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.”

The Government that claimed to love the KJV Bible must know that Joseph, the Hebrew administrator in the book of Genesis, saved Egypt and the world around it when the seven years of famine struck. He was able to do that because he planned seven years ahead.

Truly, the heads of departments and ministers should come out of the comfort of their homes in Port Moresby and move into our rural areas to assess the situation there, as well as consult with experts on how to alleviate or mitigate the effects of the El Nino event.

PNG Tauna

Port Moresby