Provincial agriculture show cancelled in cholera wake

THERE will be no 49th Morobe Provincial Agricultural Show this year.
The Morobe provincial agricultural show Society yesterday cancelled the largest show in the country after advise from health authorities.
The show was due to run from Oct 31 to Nov 1.
Next year’s show will be held from Oct 23 – 24.
President Mike Quinn said yesterday the decision was reached after the resurgence of a 12 confirmed cases of cholera last week, from settlement areas surrounding Lae City.
In one day, Thursday,  alone, there was a record of six cases.
Mr Quinn said the committee had initially felt that there was little risk with the proceeding of preparations for the show.
“This was because cases of cholera looked to be dropping in number and if this pattern had continued then the show would have been staged,” he said.
Mr Quinn said the resurgence of new cases last week suggested that there will be a greater risk of spreading the disease to other provinces due to an anticipated large movement of people in and out of Lae.
“The health and well-being of the citizens and visitors to Lae is of the highest concern of our society and with the change in circumstances regarding cholera we agreed that it was in the best interests of the community that the show be cancelled,” Mr Quinn said.
He said the society regretted the decision and added that health authorities would now be in a better position “to collectively work on eradicating the disease, and with other government instrumentalities, provide appropriate water and sanitation facilities in the settlement areas”.