(As reported on Australia's ABC)
More than 700 people in Papua New Guinea's Western Highlands province have been left homeless after a river burst its banks following weeks of heavy rain, local media has reported.
An estimated 25 hectares (62 acres) of land was inundated when the Waghi River flooded early Tuesday morning (local time), swamping vegetable gardens, cash crops and livestock, the National newspaper said.
The country's National Disaster Centre committed $58,000 to the Western Highlands provincial government to help more than 700 displaced villagers in the Dei region, it said.
Community leader Gabriel Nolai said the works department and two local construction companies were partly to blame for failing to build adequate drainage.
3 comments:
Does anyone feel that the PNG government should divert some of the $2M promised to the fire victims of Victoria, Australia to the homeless of the floods?
Hello Anon,
Thanks for raising the issue. We at WAECA feel that the government did the right thing to help the NSW bush fire victims. It is only a symbolic gesture, and the amount of money does not matter. Generally, Australians are arogant. But during times of disaster, they pull together and give, not only to their people but to others as well. We saw this in Aitape. The australian army were the first to be there, even before the PNG government knew. We also saw this in burns victims were medical staff came from all over Australia. Wether we gave &100.00 02 $100 million, the symbolic gesture says a lot about what kind of country and people we are.
This is greaat
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