More than 70,000 people in earthquake affected areas in Hela, Southern Highlands, parts of Gulf and Western provinces have to date received earthquake relief supplies from Oil Search Limited.
This include village visitations, providing relief assistance, on the ground medical treatment, and conducting village assessments.
In a statement Managing Director and CEO, Peter Botten, said as of March 13, Oil Search helicopters have made over 86 village drop offs, moving over 70 tonnes of material to Moro and delivered almost all of that already to communities.
Over 10 tonnes of this amount has been medical supplies which have been delivered to health facilities across the affected Gulf Provinces.
The company has also treated more than 80 people and medevacked seven patients to Port Moresby, five to Mendi and Tari hospital each.
“Our rapid assessments of damages and needs have shown that a significant number of villages experienced food insecurity with gardens destroyed, water supplies contaminated by sedimentation and debris from the quake, homes and infrastructure, including roads, and health facilities have been damaged or destroyed,’’ Botten said.
He said the company then mobilised aid efforts out of its Moro Camp and established an emergency relief coordination centre.
“Within this centre, we have a team of people who receive supplies of food, water, shelter, and medicine received from a range of donors and ensure these are properly packed according to the international emergency guidelines, ready for distribution.”
In a media conference on Monday, Botten said the risk of an outbreak of diarrhoea and water borne diseases was highly likely.
He also said the K16 million allocated by the company to help with relief efforts has been exhausted. They will however, continue to work with the Government and stakeholders by now focusing on a long term restoration effort.