An NGO worker in Papua New Guinea's Hela province says many families remain in acute need after February's magnitude 7.5 earthquake.
A family in Hela province Photo: Supplied/ Philip Undialu
The quake left widespread devastation and claimed around 150 lives in Hela and neighbouring Southern highlands province.
Tribal and election related violence in both provinces have hampered post-earthquake relief efforts, with various international aid agencies having to pull out of the region.
A local NGO worker who works on tribal reconciliation and disaster relief James Komengi said in Hela earthquake recovery has not been progressing very well.
"We're going into the second month after the UN team withdrew from Hela and we continue our ongoing monitoring as well as distributing relief items that are supplied by some of our partners.
"There are still many families still out there who have lost their homes due to the earthquake. Families need help - there [are] a lot of people suffering."
Mr Komengi said local authorities were understandably struggling to manage a set of natural and human disasters in the region.
"We are a province that was already in disaster when the earthquake happened. So if the provincial government, if the solders, if the national government doesn't know how to respond to the situation, I respect that because have never managed the chaos in the past.
"So when the earthquake happened it is a double disaster. It's not manageable."