8 Jan 2010

Solomons quake victims need more tarpaulins

4:14 pm on 8 January 2010

UNICEF says pockets of need remain in Solomon Islands after this week's series of earthquakes triggered a tsunami and landslides.

The organisation has been working to provide essential relief supplies including food, water and temporary shelters, to the quake zone in Western province's Rendova and Tetepare islands.

An emergency response coordinator for UNICEF, Hamish Weatherly, says for now, there's enough food, however there's a need for more clean water and at least 500 more tarpaulins.

"The key concern is lack of access to clean water due to, I guess there's landslides which have blocked streams and foul water sources. The government and the initial assessment team have done quite a good job in delivering ten litre containers which will allow people to move water about from other fresh water sources. But there's still a need for further distribution of things like purification tablets."

Hamish Weatherly says a detailed assessment of the emergency recovery efforts will be carried out next week to determine what else is required.