No more government assistance for Solomons flood evacuees

Transcript

The Solomon Islands National Disaster Management Office says it will no longer assist those still living in a Honiara evacuation centre following flash floods in April.

The state of disaster for Guadalcanal was lifted two weeks ago.

The NDMO's director, Loti Yates, says 18 to 20 families are still residing in a building at the Solomon Islands National University, despite the government having done all it can to repatriate them.

He told Mary Baines it will now be up to the owner of the evacuation centre, the Solomon Islands National University, to decide how long evacuees can stay there.

LOTI YATES: Those who have put up their hands to be repatriated have been repatriated, those who have refused to move are still at the Festival of Pacific Arts Village.

MARY BAINES: So how many are still in evacuation centres now?

LY: The numbers vary a bit. Mostly because when we get to go to the place the father or the mother will either be working so the numbers go up and down. But we are looking at a very small number. I haven't got the latest brief from my operations team yet, it's likely we are looking at between 18 to 20 families.

MB: Why are these people not wanting to move on?

LY: Well, they have their reasons, you know. Despite the fact that we are encouraging them to look for alternate places and evacuation centres are not the longer term solutions to their problems, we do also understand the fact that to get a place in Honiara is really, really difficult. And these people are people of the lower income bracket so accessing house rentals et cetera is very, very, very difficult for them. But they need to feed their families, they have their children at school et cetera, so that is one of the reasons as to why they are refusing to go or are waiting for a promised relocation village or something which has been promised to them by certain people within our society here.

MB: Do you think these people have been given the means, the resources, by the government to set up out of the evacuation centre?

LY: We, the government, have given them what they can to support them. The rest will remain with the beneficiaries, the recipients, to see how they can top up what they are getting to support themselves to recover.

MB: How long are these people going to have in the evacuation centre before, you know, effectively, they are forced out?

LY: Um, that depends now very much on the people who own the place. It is a facility owned by the Solomon Islands National University. That means then that other buildings within the school which the National University can use for certain educational activities are currently being held up by the evacuees. So the school is not accessing those buildings. The NDMO, my office, we've basically said that whoever remains there at their own will will have to deal with the owners of the premises and the NDMO won't be supporting them anything from now on, et cetera. So those people who are currently residing in the school, in that premises, will have to deal with the Solomon Islands National University. That's for them to decide when and how long they are going to stay there.