Page 24 - November 2021 IB FINAL

Pacific Health Pacific Health

Exterior of the Nusatupe Quarantine centre

FIT FOR PURPOSE?

CONCERNS OVER SOLOMON ISLANDS QUARANTINE CENTRES

By Ben Bilua The national government with the help of donor partners
has also established quarantine sites in Choiseul Province
The smell of new paint is still strong at the newly refur- and Shortland Islands. Along with Western, these provinces
bished Nusatupe Quarantine site in Solomon Islands. and islands are described as very high risk due to movement
The quarantine site has been empty since its refurbishment through the maritime borders.
was completed, apart from frequent visits from the owners of However, critics say Solomon Islands’ quarantine facilities
the building. are not up to standard.
The Nusatupe quarantine site is one of the facilities es- A survey carried out by the Parliamentary Health and Medi-
tablished by government in the Western Province with the cal Committee recently found the locations were problematic,
help of Community Access and Urban Services Enhancement and other standards were not being met.
(CAUSE) Project. However locally, there are concerns that The Leader of Opposition Parliamentary Group, Honorable
some of the facilities are not up to scratch. Matthew Wale, who was also part of the team said most of the
Two quarantine sites—the second is at Noro— were estab- quarantine facilities are incomplete. Worse still, the facilities’
lished in haste when COVID-19 first swept the world last year. capacities are inadequate he claims.
Ground works were carried out under the CAUSE project Wale said the government has been misleading the people
with funding from the government. on the level of investment towards the quarantine facilities.
CAUSE Gizo Community Liaison Office, Penny Siliako, said “I’m extremely disappointed as it seems to me that the gov-
12 contractors with close to 90 workers on their books were ernment has lost interest in making sure border control and
engaged to carry out the task. investments on quarantine facilities [comply],” he said.
Siliako says they stepped in, given the pandemic shows no Furthermore, a well-placed source within Gizo hospital who
sign of slowing down regionally and internationally. wants his identity withheld in fear of repercussion, claims the
“Western Province is one of Solomon Islands’ entry points. Nusatupe Quarantine facility cannot be used as ventilation is
We have the Noro International Seaport, Munda International poor.
Airport and the border between Solomon Islands and Papua “It is a waste of government funds,” the source said.
New Guinea. At the time of writing, Solomon Islands is COVID-19 free.
“These entry points put Western Province as a high-risk The World Health Organisation says between 3 January 2020
zone and we must prepare at all cost to minimise the risk,” and 16 November 2021 the country recorded 20 positive cas-
Siliako said. es, all now recovered, with no deaths. As of 27 October 2021,
The CAUSE project is financed through a World Bank Group a total of 171,562 vaccine doses have been administered.
International Development Association grant of US$15 million. The Lowy Institute estimates Solomon Islands will reach 66%
Other heath related work under CAUSE has included sanitis- vaccine coverage by December 2022.
ing of public spaces, construction of public hand washing sta-
tions, and training of workers and communities on key COVID editor@islandsbusiness.com
symptoms and prevention measures.

24 Islands Business, November 2021