Settle displaced islanders’ issues

THE Government has allocated K13 million for the Manam (Madang) and Kadovar (East Sepik) resettlement work and wants to see 99 per cent of the funds spent on that.
Of that amount, K8 million is for the Manam resettlement while K5 million is marked for Kadovar.
Inter-Government Relations Minister Pila Niningi says his department will administer the funds for proper accountability and transparency as many a times funds directed to responsible agencies for restoration and resettlement activities did not properly get implemented.
Manam Islanders have been living in the Mangem (Sumkar) and Potsdam and Asuramba (Bogia) care centres for almost 16 years now.
Their island – Manam’s first known eruption was in 1616.
Since then Manam has erupted at least 30 times.
The volcano has been very active in the 20th century with 23 eruptions.
In November 2004, a major eruption forced the emergency evacuation of over 9,000 inhabitants of the island.
The state relocated the people to the main lands and resettled them at care centres.
They still live in the care centre after 16 years.
Life at the care centres has not been easy for the families with most citing food shortage and ethnic clashes with the mainlanders forcing some to move back to the island.
A similar plight is also being faced by the 600-plus inhabitants from Kadovar Island in East Sepik displaced from the volcano eruption in Jan 2017.
The displaced islanders are currently living at the care centre on the mainland and their future remains uncertain.
Displacement for people from those islands appears to be protracted, with households living in temporary living situations for more than a year.
These populations are more vulnerable to development challenges as they have less access to basic services such as protection, which increases the risk of human trafficking and people smuggling.
Women and girls are especially susceptible to abuse, from both within their communities and outside.
Both cases have had their share of leaders’ fighting with allegations of mismanagement of funds.
Those affected in the respective care centres will now cling to the hope that Niningi is true to his word that there is accountability and transparency on the use of the allocated funds so resettlement can takes place.
Lives of people are at stake – women and children have been made to suffer because leaders tasked to work together have their own interest.
In many areas, natural disasters, conflict, violence and development projects often coincide to create an environment conducive to displacement.
The prolonged displacement has seen a deterioration of living conditions, with the displaced increasingly left on their own to meet their basic needs and sustain themselves.
Tension with people from Bogia has erupted into conflict over land and resources, putting the lives of the islanders at risk of violence and sometimes secondary displacement.
People are reported fighting for their lives in order to survive because they have been living without food at the Dandan Care Centre.
The hopes of the Manam and Kadovar Islanders living in the care centres for an end to their concern now rest on Minister Niningi’s assurance that he will address their resettlement issues this year.
The ongoing 16-year Manam and Kadovar three year issues should be settled this year.