Rugged topography stops assessment

THE Morobe provincial disaster response team could not walk into the outback communities of drought stricken Menyamya district to assess the situation due to the rugged topography and road inaccessibility.
Disaster field technical officer Leo Kautu said after returning from Kwaplalim last week, that he compiled a brief situation report and submitted to the National Disaster Centre (NDC).
“We are arranging for a helicopter to lift the health, primary industry and agricultural specialists into the severely affected areas to carry out the ground assessment,” Kautu said.
He said he hoped that the NDC would arrange for a helicopter before Friday while also awaiting Morobe provincial administration to engage specialists from National Agriculture Research Institute to go to Menyamya.
Kautu added that the Menyamya district administration should have filed reports earlier “instead of waiting until there were deaths”.