Cholera spreading from PNG province
Updated
There are signs that the large cholera outbreak in Papua New Guinea is spreading out of Morobe province, and is starting to invade schools and prisons.
Presenter: Geraldine Coutts
Speaker: Firmin Nanol, PNG reporter
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NANOL: Authorities are a bit fearful that it’s spreading to other neighbouring provinces as well as into schools and into police cells, and people are a bit afraid and there’s a sort of panic mood where recently in Lae the Lae police cell there was one of the remanded inmates apprehended for an offence and logged in was suspected of cholera, and the rest of the 78 prisoners were locked in. They released him and there were plans to take them to the other jail and the jail commander there didn’t want them to go there, he said if those remanded could have been, you know he said that with the virus that they might be able to spread it and could be a disaster in the cell. Now that’s one; the other one is in the eastern highlands province, that’s a remote area sharing border with Morobe province, also what happened that by cholera and dysentery as well. And there are fears that the disease may have spread to the provincial capital Goroka, and the authorities there have declared public emergency and are thinking of evicting settlements and banning the sale of food outside in the open air, and they’re saying the settlements normally have unhygienic conditions; they don’t have proper sewerage and toilet facilities, and they could be able to breed and spread the disease, the cholera and dysentery as well. So that’s how it’s affected at least all people from all walks of life I mean.
COUTTS: Well it still appears to be spreading and if it’s now in Goroka, but staying with the squatter settlements Firmin for a little bit longer, have they started closing the squatter settlements down? Obviously it’s an issue of hygiene, but where will they go if they have to move out of that home, won’t they just be moving the problem from one spot to another if they do move them on?
NANOL: That’s a very good point and that infringes on human rights as well. I spoke to the provincial police commander in Goroka, Augustine Wampe, and he said that is the warning and that is the plan that has been issued by the provincial authorities and they’re there just to help. The police are saying that because this is a contagious disease and it could be easily spread and communicable diseases are spread easily by people, most of the settlements are on firstly to start with on statement. They’re claiming they’ve settled on illegal land, they don’t have any titles, they don’t have proper structures like buildings or toilets, no proper health facilities, most food is cooked outside in the open air with dust, that could be easily contaminated, no proper running water, their hands could be contaminated. And with cholera and dysentery could be easily spread by contamination of food and water. Now once they find out some people, some settlements are genuine where you see people like drivers, cooks and clerks who work with businesses and provincial administrations throughout the country, and also in Goroka live in those settlements. Those genuine ones will be asked to stay, plus others that are illegally settling on state land and not properly, with proper provisions will be asked to vacate within like say a month’s time and if they don’t move, they said the police would be asked to go to evict them and damage those kind of areas.
