Over 270,000 need immediate help in PNG quake zone

Over 270,000 people in Papua New Guinea are estimated to be requiring immediate humanitarian assitance after last month's magnitude 7.5 earthquake.

According to the latest situation report from the United Nations, the priority needs are medicine, tarpaulins and tents, blankets, food and water.

At least 125 people have died and infrastructure has been severely damaged.

Around 18,200 people have been displaced and are reported to have converged in 26 informal care centres.

The UN also estimates that over 544-thousand are affected across the five most affected provinces.

The provinces are Hela, Southern Highlands, Enga, Western and West Sepik.

Health crisis looms

Papua New Guinea's Health Department says more people will die in earthquake-hit districts if health issues are not urgently tackled.

The head of Emergency Medicine says that following the 7.5 quake 17 days ago there's a risk that food and water borne diseases could kill thousands of people.

Dr Sam Yockopua said health officers recently visited one quake affected area and reported 80 people coming in with quake-related injuries.

He said more than 100 people arrived seeking treatment for food borne and water borne diseases.

Dr Yockopua told The National the Health Department has already sent in medical teams to the quake hit centres of Tari and Mendi to focus on primary care and public health cases.

He is calling for more medicine supplies and medical teams to be provided to treat people in need.

Urgent need to sow new food crops in PNG

Meanwhile, an expert in Papua New Guinea food crops says there is an urgent need to plant maize and corn seeds to feed people displaced by the earthquake.

The Highlands quake has put a lot of pressure on food supplies with victims needing both emergency food and seeds to re-establish fast growing food crops, according to an Australian academic with good knowledge of food security in the area.

Dr Mike Bourke, an associate professor from the Australian National University, said people were very stressed following the quake but the aid response would help them cope.

Dr Bourke said unfortunately there were not large quantities of seed available in PNG.

"The thing that would help people establish their crops more quickly that anything else is to have planting material of maize or corn because in the lowlands you can eat that in 90 days, have high quality food in 90 days or even at higher altitude its only 100 or 110 days and its high quality food and its fast and everyone eats it," said Mike Bourke

He said it was likely most families would gravitate back to their own land once the earthquakes settled down and they become less fearful.

But in the long term he believes more development in the remote areas will help them to become more resilient.

Provincial HQ building condemned in PNG

Papua New Guinea's provincial headquarters building in the Southern Highlands has been condemned and declared unsafe.

An engineering assessment on the six story building last week found life threatening internal structural damage from the 7.5 magnitude earthquake in the area two weeks ago.

The acting provincial administrator said the 500 plus public servants who worked in the Agiru Centre now have no base to work from and the building has been closed with workers prevented from entering.

Authorities are seeking two more engineers to verify the initial report before they make a final decision on the building's future.

The Agiru Centre in Mendi is the tallest building in the Highlands region and was named after former Southern Highlands governor, the late Anderson Agiru.

ExxonMobil to assist affected communities

The energy giant ExxonMobil is to help re-establish food gardens in earthquake-affected areas of Papua New Guinea's Highlands.

"The re-establishment of food supplies for the community here is going to be important in the following weeks and months," said ExxonMobil PNG managing director Andrew Barr.

"Our ANUE (Australian National University Enterprise) partners have indicated they will be looking to get back into the field shortly to help address the critical need to re-establish food gardens in communities near our facilities."

These efforts by Exxon were part of the LNG project's existing community livelihoods improvement programme.

Exxon's major LNG gas project in PNG is centred in the Highlands province of Hela where a 7.5 magnitude quake late last month caused widespread devastation.

At least 125 people have died and infrastructure has been severely damaged.

Exxon suspended its project operations and has been assisting with relief response.

With significant damage reported to the region's all-important food gardens, Exxon says it plans to help the gardeners get back on their feet in Hela.

This will be done, in conjunction with the Australian National University which will be providing tools for people to cultivate their gardens again.

Plans include issuing around 2,500 families with quick-growing corn seed to be harvested within 100 days of planting.

Vegetative cuttings for staple foods such as sweet potato and cassava will be distributed.

Meanwhile, Exxon said it was helping the restoration of health facilities in the Highlands.

"Several of the health centers in the communities near our Hides Gas Conditioning Plant have been damaged or have been displaced following the earthquake," explained Mr Barry.

"In addition to assisting with delivering critical medical kits, we are helping with assessments and providing logistics support to the health workers, as relief agencies work to re-establish health services in affected communities."