Page 15 - IB April 2018

Cover Story

Landslip site in Timu. Photo: Raguel Kepas EMTV Cameraman, Raguel Kepas, filming a damaged classroom at Mendi School of
Nursing,, Southern Highlands Province. Photo: Scott Waide
Late reaction to a killer quake mercial arrangements were confidential. standards like Queensland.
“They’ve got an excellent reputation in
The ExxonMobil investment represents
about 40 per cent of the national budget.
attending to floods, earthquakes, bush-
Any delay is likely to cost the country huge
“It is one of the best in Australia.”
losses and cause a deterioration in the fires, cyclones.”
quality of social service delivery.
In Port Moresby, Treasury Minister, No strangers to disasters
petroleum company, Oil Search, the first Charles Abel told investors at a Petroleum
lot of relief supplies begin to arrive on an conference that the government was likely Papua New Guineans are no strangers
Australian Army C130 Hercules. to introduce a supplementary budget to to severe natural disasters.
In the initial 36 hours after the disas- cater to the shortfall. In 1994, the twin eruptions of Vulcan
ter, Oil Search, the Missionary Aviation “We are reminded of the risks of natural and Tavurvur resulted in the total destruc-
Fellowship (MAF) and the Australian disasters socially and economically. Heavy tion of the town of Rabaul. While the death
Defense Force were the first to begin con- reliance on large scale resource projects toll was minimal, the economic cost was
ducting initial assessments and relief into with small geographical footprints exac- significant.
the Western and Hela provinces. erbates economic risks especially when The eruption forced the relocation of
Some of the first injured by quake were more than one are located in one region.” thousands of people and millions of dol-
airlifted to neighboring Mt. Hagen for lars were spent on the reconstruction of
treatment. the provincial capital.
As the death toll climbed to 36 within Review of disaster response Four years later, in 1998, a tsunami in
the first week, more information trickled systems the Sandaun Province killed 3000 people.
in from far flung regions of the Hela Prov- The recovery and restoration of the com-
ince. The district administrator of Komo- Confronted by the largely unprecedented munities took years.
Magarima, Johnson Tiki, reported that the earthquake disaster affecting more than In Madang province, more than 10,000
decomposing bodies of a woman and her 500 thousand people, the Papua New people remain displaced on five old plan-
two children had just been discovered. Guinea Government says it will be review- tations since the Manam Island volcanic
The district is the worst hit and one of ing the country’s disaster management eruption 14 years ago in 2004.
the most isolated. and response systems. While the experiences and lessons
Speaker of Parliament has also been have been painful, Papua New Guinea’s
Economy affected put on notice to recall the house where National Disaster Service (NDS) has relied
legislation is expected to be passed for the on donations, limited government funding
While much of the focus has been on the creation of a restoration authority in the and logistical support of various agencies
human cost, Papua New Guinea’s national quake affected provinces. including the military.
budget has also taken a hit. For Papua New Guinea’s Prime Minis- “There has to be a central command
Within days of the quake, the biggest in- ter, Peter O’Neill, whose own province of structure with a collection of agencies,”
vestor in the Papua New Guinea economy, Southern Highlands was affected, it has says Planning Minister, Richard Maru.
ExxonMobil declared a ‘force majeure’ been both difficult and embarrassing for “We must have someone from the army,
after its production sites suffered damage. him politically. the police, Fire Service and other agencies.
A company spokeswoman reiterated It became apparent that Papua New “At the present, the Fire Service operates
that the company was focusing on as- Guinea’s disaster response mechanism on its own. The army is called in when we
sessing damage from the earthquake, had failed in the initial seven days after need it. There is no cohesiveness.”
a process that “is expected to take time the quake struck. At a National Planning Consultative
particularly given the damage to roads “I am quite frankly disappointed with Summit held in Lae City, more than 400
and other infrastructure. the reports that they have been able to participants have been tasked to create
“We are continuing to work with our produce. That is why I’ve tasked the Min- a disaster management plan that is inte-
customers to minimise the impact on ister for Forests to initiate discussions with grated into a new set of five year plans for
their business,” ExxonMobil PNG said in the Queensland Government, to model our national economic growth.
emailed comments, adding that its com- emergency response capabilities to similar r swaide@emtv.com.pg

Islands Business, April 2018 15