ACT Information Update

Solomon Islands 0107

Solomon Islands earthquake and tsunami

Government and Red Cross disaster teams are taking tents and supplies to the affected areas. Australia has offered A$2 million ($1.6 million) in aid, while New Zealand offered NZ$500,000 ($360,000) and sent an airforce plane loaded with supplies, including water containers, blankets, tarpaulins, food and lamps according to the news agency Reuters. The United Nations said it had a full Disaster Assessment and Coordination team on standby for deployment to the Solomons.

ACT member Christian World Service (CWS), New Zealand, launched an emergency appeal to support the people of the Solomon Islands. CWS said that while reports are still sketchy, in both places (Choiseul and Western Provinces) there has been widespread property damage and loss of life.

Ruth Liloqula from CWS’s partner, the Lauru Land Conference based in Choiseul, reported that two metre high waves travelled up to 200 metres inland, causing major property destruction and contaminating drinking water. "It is indeed a very big concern and I just hope that our people got to safer ground," Liloqula said. Her family home, which had already been damaged by the rise in sea level, was swept away by the tsunami.

CWS said in a news release that it is clear that beyond the immediate need both for essential food, water, medical care and emergency shelter there is going to be an enormous amount of repair and rehabilitation work required. CWS will use the money raised from its appeal to support communities over the coming months as they rebuild and re-establish their lives.

The following information has also been received by the ACT CO:

From Australian Lutheran World Service (ALWS) early this morning (April 3rd):

• Anglican Board of Mission (Australia) is a partner with the Church of Melanesia and they will be responding in a way that is to be determined. ABM has made some emergency funding available, but don't envisage the need to issue a large scale appeal.
  
  
• The National Council of Churches in Australia/Christian World Service has links to the Solomon Islands Christian Association (SICA) and also do not anticipate the need for a major response.
  
  
• ALWS does not plan any response for the following reasons:
  
  Unless assessments over the next few days reveal something unexpected the scale of the emergency, there will be no major intervention.
  
  The Australian government has a significant footprint in the Solomons through the Regional Assistance Mission to the Solomon Islands (RAMSI) & A$2 million has already been allocated for relief activities.

US-based ACT member Church World Service reports that the Solomon Islands' recent unrest and its remote location make response to this disaster challenging. Church World Service will work with ACT International to monitor the situation and explore the best routes to provide relief and recovery assistance.

Background information: Once a British protectorate, the Solomon Islands have experienced significant civil unrest since gaining independence in 1978. International peacekeeping efforts have quelled violence for the most part and allowed some economic recovery since 2003. As a result of British colonial policy, the western part of the country was given to the Methodist Mission. The Anglican Church is on Isabel and Gualdalcanal and the Roman Catholic Church on Malaita. As a consequence, the United Church is the main church in the Western Province and next to the government the main organizing power for society. Its partner in Australia is the Uniting Church and the Australian Council of Churches.

In New Zealand, the Methodist Church is its historical mission partner.

Jaap Schep of The Lutheran World Federation in Geneva, who was the development advisor for the United Church for 7 years (1992-1999) writes that communications with the United Church is not possible at the moment as telephone lines are down, although there may be short wave radio contact with the Honiara United Church.

He writes that the clinic/hospital on the shoreline of Southern Choiseul was swept away, along with 300 houses. Schep adds that this area is very much exposed, as the reef is rather low, which must have caused the high tidal wave.

On Simbo and Ranongga, the closest islands to the epicentre, the villages are more elevated on the shore. In Vella Lavella and Gizo damage must be considerable (as they are closer to the epicentre than Choiseul). As the houses are built from bush material (wooden structure and woven mats) the main need will be for roofing sheets, gutters and water tanks. The government hospital in Gizo was also severely damaged, but not swept away. There is concern that the United Church main hospital (Helena Goldie Hospital) in Munda may have been affected as well, as it is built on a low peninsular point directly exposed to the epicentre.

Please note that ACT has no locally registered member in the Solomon Islands.