Choiseul and Western Province Earthquake-Tsunami Situation Up-date

National Disaster Management Office
Western and Choiseul Province Earthquake & Tsunami Report #41
17May2007

SITUATION

1. An earthquake measuring 8.1 struck 345km northwest of the Solomon Islands' capital Honiara at 0740 local time on 2 April 2007. (2040 GMT 1 April). The earthquake created a tsunami causing significant damage in the Solomon Islands.

2. The NDC reports that the affected area includes Gizo, Simbo, Ranogga, Shortlands, Munda, Noro, Vella la Vella, Kolombangarra and parts of the southern coast of Choiseul. The worst-affected areas are the southern coast of Gizo, Simbo Island, Ranongga and the central southern coast of Choiseul between Moli and Posarae and Sasamunga.

3. 52 people have been confirmed dead.

4. Aftershocks are reported to have decreased.

5. Minister of Home Affairs Bernard Ghiro has revoked the order he made on 3rd April declaring certain areas in the Western and Choiseul Provinces to be in a state of disaster on the 5th of May.


NATIONAL RESPONSE

6. An NDMO officer is continuing to operate the airport reception centre to receive, register and guide incoming relief teams.

7. Medical and Civil Aviation Action Desks in the NDC head office are still working.

8. 98 per cent of the data brought over from Gizo has been completed.

9. Shortlands Islands data brought over Monday this week is almost completed.

10. NDMO Director Loti Yates will leave the country on Monday to attend the inaugural Melanesian Volcanologists Network and return on Sunday 27th May.

REGIONAL RESPONSE
11. The Ministry of Health has sent in the following update of 16th May:
Facilities that need rebuilding Replacing or major repair(s) needed Already dilapidated, further damaged by earthquake/tsunami
Gizo TB ward Vonunu AHC Harapa RHC
Sasamungga Ughele AHC
Lale RHC Pienuna RHC
Boro RHC Iriqila RHC
Toumoa RHC Vanga RHC
Mondo NAP Falamae RHC
Kara NAP Voza RHC
Lambu Lambu NAP Maravari NAP
Rarumana NAP Karaka NAP
Viru NAP
Housing for more than 60 staff in Gizo and 16 staff at PHC clinics in Western Province and Choiseul has been damaged or destroyed. Staff housing is being assessed as part of the current survey.
Full infrastructure tours are currently underway and all 56 clinics will have been visited by the end of next week. The assessment report will be submitted on the 25th May. The MoH is continuing to provide health services in most of these locations. Efforts up to date have been to keep these services running. Temporary clinics with radios, water, toilets, drugs and equipment are being set up in places where there is no suitable shelter for a clinic. To date five of these temporary clinics have set up and another seven are in the process of being set up.

IN-COUNTRY RESPONSE

12. The 7-person ADB recovery team led by Rhisi has left Honiara yesterday to visit and re-assess affected communities for the recovery phase.
13. The Solomon Islands Bar Association (SIBA) handed over a cheque for SBD72,500 – contributions from local and overseas lawyers such as Canada, Hong Kong, UK, Australia and New Zealand. SIBA Tsunami Relief Fund Sub-committee chairman Andrew Radclyffe said they are also expecting another contribution from Malaysian lawyers and will hand that over once it arrives. Radclyffe said the money is being given specifically for support with water tanks for affected communities. NDMO Loti Yates who received the cheque thanked SIBA and asked the two representatives, Radclyffe and Ranjit Hewagama to pass NDC’s appreciation and assured that the money would go for its intended purpose.
14. Members of the Public Solicitors Office also handed over SBD10,000 cash to NDMO deputy Director Janet Batee. Miss Batee thanked the staff and assured them the assistance will get to the people for whom the money was intended.
15. A Central Islands Disaster Committee team also handed in SBD38,000 with goods in kind. The donation has been possible after several fundraising activities the committee has carried out in the past month up to now. Them donations were handed over by George Pego the vice Chairman of the Fundraising committee to NDMO Director Loti Yates.

IN-COUNTRY INTERNATIONAL RESPONSE

16. The PNG Defence Kumul 21 has officially terminated its assistance in Disaster Relief Operations. The NDMO Operations and airport logistical support desk officer says the plane will fly back to PNG at 0500am tomorrow via Munda for a technical stop.

17. UNICEF says it has dispatched educational equipment – 2nd batch of 40 – 50 boxes; 21 packages of tarpaulins; 1 box of fax/photocopier/printer and 11 boxes of volunteer kits on the Kumul 21 flight on Wednesday 16th May.

17: Road To Recovery

 Terminology: the National Disaster Plan outlines 3 phases (see page 2). In order to adjust to the current requirements, it is suggested to adopt the following terminology in this paper:

 Early recovery: Also relates to “Recovery phase” in the National Disaster Plan. Early Recovery is recovery that begins early in a humanitarian setting. This phase is expected to last between 1 to 4 months. It is a multi-dimensional process, guided by development principles. It aims to generate self-sustaining, nationally-owned, and resilient processes for post-crisis recovery.

 Recovery: Also referred as Rehabilitation and Reconstruction phase in the National Disaster Plan. This phase for this disaster is expected to last up to 2 years. A recovery approach focuses on how best to restore the capacity of the government and communities to rebuild and recover from crisis and to prevent relapses. In so doing, recovery seeks not only to catalyze sustainable development activities but also to build upon earlier humanitarian programmes to ensure that their inputs become assets for development.




Effective and consistent coordination of stakeholders is paramount for the success of the recovery. Priority should be given to enhancing the coordination capacities at National and Provincial levels with appropriate and dedicated full time staffs.

18. The early recovery operation will aim to:
• Ensure smooth transition with the phasing out of the emergency operations
• Promote spontaneous recovery initiatives by the affected population and mitigate the rebuilding of risk
• Establish the foundations for longer term recovery.
• Integrate risk reduction measures into recovery and development.

19. TAT endorses the priorities NDMO has identified for the transitional phase from relief to long term recovery and complements these as follows (the sectors below are not listed in order or priority but reflect all the needs to be covered during the early recovery phase):

Housing and shelter Water supply and sanitation
IDPs Management Coordination and Information Management Livelihood recovery Health and education services Transport infrastructure



20. Housing and shelter
• Making temporary shelters more liveable: permanent housing can take months to be built and temporary/semi-permanent shelters for Tsunami and earthquake victims will need to be upgraded in order to improve living quarters, sanitation and security, keeping in mind the special needs of women.
• The design of permanent houses and settlements should maximize local participation in order to ensure cultural acceptability. At the same time, hazard resistant measures should be included.
• Systematization of construction practices by adopting Disaster resistant construction technology and developing standards for permanent shelter, building on traditional knowledge and local practices (preparation and dissemination of technical guidelines, capacity building, demonstration). Use of materials that are locally available will be prioritized.
• Clarification of issues around land tenure and land rights issues related to housing, displacement and relocation in view of the need for safe resettlement to reduce vulnerabilities.

21. Water supply and sanitation
• Temporary and future semi-permanent camps need to be provided with proper water supply system and sanitation facilities;
• Rehabilitation of water supply/sanitation systems in destroyed areas based upon future needs and risk assessment.

22. Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camp management
 Service reliability (water supply, sanitation, education, health, etc) need to be ensured soonest.
 Compliance to internationally-agreed Sphere standards for camps should be followed in all temporary camps.
 Duration of temporary camps should be announced by Government as an indicative timeframe for planning long-term recovery interventions by all stakeholders.
 Identify and record the families that can quickly return to damaged houses and those which have to remain in temporary shelter. Adjust the assistance accordingly.

23. Livelihood recovery
• Re-establishment of household livelihoods will be carried over the long term. The immediate requirements during he transitional phase relate to provide tools/supplies for gardening activities, construction of semi-permanent shelter in camps, fishing activities, etc…
• Investigate appropriate financing mechanisms for recovery of livelihoods.
• Conduct an Environmental impact analysis of the earthquake and the tsunami and its impact on coastal livelihoods.

24. Strengthening information sharing and coordination mechanisms at all levels

• Local leaders have taken initiatives in creating and running community level disaster committees. These mechanisms need further support to lead the recovery planning process at community level.
• Strengthen NDC and PDCs to coordinate actors in their early and long-term recovery efforts and strengthen links with village-level disaster committees.
• Develop a common beneficiary database, building on the existing NDMO database, to be used as a tracking system to identify gaps/overlaps, provide clear information to all actors on damages/losses, costs, needs and plans, and monitor equity and efficiency of aid delivery.
• Map existing interventions and agencies in the field and identify intentions, capacities and resources.
• Provide information to affected communities to assist decisions on their recovery plans.
• Sustain forums between Government, Civil society, NGOs at various levels for knowledge networking and information sharing.

25. Health and education services
• Quick resumption of health and education services to bring back the lives of the people as close to normalcy as possible.
• Create “temporary learning and play centres” with the Ministry of Education so that structured activities can take place while building process commences.
• Using a well-being approach, assist communities to create systems of support and care to enhance the affected populations coping mechanisms.

26. Transport Infrastructure
• Prioritize damaged wharves and other coastal access points, particularly ones that are impeding cargo offloading, preventing access to livelihood restoration and creating safety issues.
• Identify destroyed and/or damaged bridges that are hampering access to gardens, medical and educational services.
• Give preference to damaged or blocked roads that are obstructing access to livelihood, educational and medical facilities.


NEXT SITUATION REPORT

27. Next situation report Contact: ndc@solomon.com.sb and programsndc@solomon.com.sb