by Georgina Maka’a
Communities in Western and Choiseul provinces are beginning to experience food shortages as Tropical Cyclone Maila intensifies to Category Five.
Several villagers who spoke to In-depth Solomons this morning said many communities have already exhausted their rice supplies and are concerned they may go hungry over the next few days if the weather continues.
Chris Pondokolo of Rannogga said people in his community are becoming increasingly worried because they can no longer access their gardens for food, many of which have been damaged or spoiled by the cyclone.
“Rice has run out of stock in the last three days and also food garden supplies in people’s homes,” Pondokolo said.
He also described one of the most distressing situations currently facing his area is the death of an elderly person in Koriovuku (Rannogga) yesterday, following a long illness.
“At the moment we are trying to discuss how we can bury the dead body and trying to come up with a convenient plan as we cannot move the body to the grave site due to the status of the cyclone,” Pondokolo said.
He added that as of this morning, he had taken the initiative to visit each home in the community to share basic safety rules, saying that the communities had not yet received formal guidance from relevant authorities as the current weather conditions cannot allow people to move to islands via boats.
He further reported that as of last night, many houses with leaf roofs had been blown away, forcing residents to seek shelter with relatives.
A mother of five from Valapata village in North Vella La Vella, Lydia Lovi, also described the current situation as frightening, saying she had to move her family up the hill.
“This is the first time we’ve experienced weather this bad and it is very scary for our little children,” Love stated.
“We are now in the hills because the sea and strong winds are too much for us to bear,” she added.
Director of the National Disaster Management Office, Jonathan Tafiariki, told In-depth Solomons that relief supplies to affected areas will not be delivered until weather conditions improve.
He said while his office sympathises with the situation on the ground, teams cannot be mobilised yet.
“At this moment, it’s still not advisable to send teams to the communities as the bad weather persists, restricting travel by sea. So our boats cannot mobilise to the communities in this condition,” he added.
Tafiariki urged residents to take precautions during the bad weather and do everything possible to ensure their safety.
He also confirmed that mobilisation of relief supplies will begin as soon as the weather clears.
Meanwhile, Cabinet is holding an urgent meeting today to consider options for support and response measures for communities affected by Tropical Cyclone Maila.
