Victims running out of food

By JAMES APA GUMUNO
A SPOKESWOMAN for about 60 people living by the Waghi River who have been affected by flooding, is calling on disaster and emergency officials to speed up delivery of relief supplies.
She said many people had their gardens along the Waghi River banks destroyed since the river burst its banks under continuous rain two weeks ago.
Penny Kamb, from the Galku clan, said by the end of this week or early next week, many people would face hunger.
“It’s still raining here and we are expecting more damage to occur,” she said on behalf of three other clans at Karpa
Primary School yesterday.
“I want to thank the government for responding quickly to assist us and other people affected by flood and landslide with K500,000 to rebuild our livelihood,” she said.
She said an assessment report on the damage was already done and now with the provincial disaster office.
“But the longer we wait for relief to be delivered, the more lives will be affected.”
She said about 10 families living near the river’s banks had abandoned their houses and were now living with friends on higher ground.
“Water is still covering our food crops and gradually killing them,” she said.
“Our main staple foods such as kaukau and sweet potatoes were dying from water-borne diseases.
She added that they could not harvest any food because their gardens were covered in mud and buried under other rubbish.