‘We are yet to fly in one bale of rice’

By Malum Nalu in Mt Hagen
A HELICOPTER pilot based in Mt Hagen who has been flying in and out of the disaster areas taking assessment teams is disappointed to see people still waiting for relief supplies.
“We are yet to fly one bale of rice to one particular location, we’re yet to take medication, water. No shelter, no nothing,” said Eric Aliawi, pictured, from Hela, in Mt Hagen yesterday.
He said it made no sense to be flying around conducting assessments of the damage nine days after the earthquake when the people were crying out for help on the ground.
“We’re not bringing in any medication, we’re not bringing in any food supplies, we’re not bringing in any shelter, we’re not bringing any water,” he said.
“It’s been nine days now (since the earthquake). We’re just going around in circles doing assessments. It’s been nine days of doing assessments.”
Aliawi said the Komo airfield was open, Tari airport was opened on Monday “but we have not seen any supplies”.
He said people had made it easy for authorities by congregating in one area after moving away from the hills. “Every night, we receive reports of people being killed,” he said. “On Monday, there was a report of nine or 10 people dying in Bosavi.”