ABG DECLARES NATIONAL STATE of EMERGENCY

 

The Carteret Islands - climate change refugees. 

BOUGAINVILLE ATOLLS UNDER SERIOUS THREAT

Nukumanu or Tasman Atolls, islanders under threat.

An observation by BIG PAT 

The ABG has declared a 21 day state of emergency for the Atolls Constituency.

This follows king tide wave action that has devastated the outlying Islands of Nukumanu.

President ISHMAEL TOROAMA, said in a statement that outer low lying Islands "are severely affected, with their food gardens, and properties now underwater."

"The immediate effect is that the Atolls islanders are going hungry with the strong winds and king tides destroying food gardens.

"This natural calamity that has caused a lot of suffering to our people, falls under the ambit of any other natural calamity, within the meaning of Emergency as defined under Section 197 of the Bougainville Constitution," Mr Toroama said.

Interestingly, the Emergency facing the Atolls was raised in the PNG Parliament on Wednesday by Bougainville Regional MP Peter Tsiamalili Jnr in a series of questions to PM James Marape.

In its editorial today, the Post-Courier newspaper made some pertinent observations. 

The editorial in PC today.

The editorial called the PM's response to the Emergency as less then forthcoming and raised the issue of how PNG Kina 5 million was so easily raised to fund a ministerial junket to Glasgow in UK for the global climate change meet last year while a national emergency facing the remote Atolls received only words of assurance.

The newspaper said: "Where lives of people are  severely affected, their very existence and livelihood is at risk, hence this should not be taken lightly. It should not be a climate change case study or statistic. It should be considered a national disaster. The response should be swift."  

The paper further stated: "You would have expected emergency services to be immediately sent on the way, but no, the Prime Minister's response was less than forthcoming, almost comical, bothering on an affront to the lonely and lost people, who live so far away from those in Waigani. 

"Words are cheap," thundered the editorial. "The affected islanders, who have longed for a cargo boat for so long, want action.

"So for the PM to assure them and promise them of 'support' is like giving a kid a lolly and telling them to wait in line for the packet."

"Mr Prime Minister, if K5m can be pulled out of a hat like a rabbit for Glasgow, we are sure you can find the same money today, not tomorrow or next week but today - for the Atolls people."

Mr Toroama has appointed Michael Otorua as emergency Controller and Clement Totavun as deputy Controller. 

Mr Otorua is expected to be in the Atolls to assess the situation this weekend. 

President Toroama welcomed the support of the PNG government and stakeholders in addressing the problem. 

But a lot is at stake here. People's lives are at risk, their livelihood hanging in the balance, their homes all but gone.

It is not just hunger and thirst. There will be be a whole heap of issues including health, battered homes, lost food crops, flooded gardens and a shaken hope.

It's good to declare an SoE but the ABG and PNG Governmentments really need to find the land, purchase it and resettle the Atolls islanders in the long run. 

Meanwhile the waves are rising each day, the winds are blowing stronger and the shorelines are vanishing.

The sinking feeling is real. The PNG Government needs to act fast, and I suggest that it should gather the Minister's and public servants it sent to Glasgow to suit up in their goggles and be sent to the Atolls.

Yupla ol lain go kisim skul blo climate change long Glasgow, nau em taim lo halivim ol climate change refugees.

King tides overwhelming a community in Manus. The same is happening in Bougainville's outer Atolls.