Tuvalu PM says the situation in his country remains dire

Transcript

Tuvalu's Prime Minister says the situation in his country remains dire and unstable two weeks after cyclone Pam, but he is happy with progress that has been made.

Enele Sopoaga says enough supplies have been distributed to every affected island, although concerns remain about the state of water and hygiene.

Entire islands were flooded in the cyclone and had to be evacuated, but Mr Sopoaga says most of them have been able to return home and those who haven't, should be able to by the end of this week.

He told Jamie Tahana the state of emergency in the country was lifted on Friday, meaning postponed elections can be held on Tuesday.

ENELE SOPOAGA: The situation is still dire and unstable right now but much has been achieved in terms of providing immediate relief to the islands because all the islands of Tuvalu were badly hit by cyclone Pam except for the capital island, Funafuti. But right now, with the timely response from other bodies as well as the response from development partners - bilateral, multilateral, UN agencies, things are sort of beginning to calm down and beginning to get back to normal. So that is very very encouraging and I'm very happy that we are at this stage and we are happy that relief supplies have been dispatched to the affected islands of Tuvalu.

JAMIE TAHANA: Entire islands had to be evacuated and such, thousands of people were affected. Have these people been able to go back home?
 
ES: Well the couple of islands where the damages were severe compared to the others - we still have about 10, in some cases 20 families, still being displaced away from their homes and they're still being accommodated in community halls and classrooms because their houses were damaged and they are quite unliveable at this stage. The other islands I think, only a couple of families are still in the community halls but recovery work is ongoing in their houses. And we are hopeful that the end of next week, all these displaced people would have been returned or transferred back to their own homes. Taskforces have been dispatched to the most affected islands to help the island community clear the debris, the storms, the huge rocks and rubbish from the village and from the dwellings, the houses. And also helping them to rebuild first temporary shelters just to allow them to start recovering from the damages. But the situation was very bad a couple of weeks ago. And I'm happy now that to some level of degree, we have been able to help these people out.

JT: Crops were destroyed, water contaminated in some instances - have adequate supplies arrived been able to be distributed so the people have enough for now?

ES: Yes, we are fortunate that we have received last week, quite a supply coming from partners particularly from Australia and New Zealand. New Zealand sent an airforce aircraft to deliver a medicine to Funafuti the Capital Island of Tuvalu. And also, food supplies and medicine and the tools that are thought very useful in the recovery. And also a supply of fresh water so all these have been dispatched to the islands, the most affected islands, on ships. And luckily we have had very calm seas right now and our ships have been able to sail and deliver these supplies. And you're right, the issue of water is quite critical and we are monitoring the situation very very closely. And there is also the issue of hygiene and sanitation that we have to address.

JT: But as you say the situation is still quite dire and unstable. What further assistance, what further work needs doing in Tuvalu?

ES: I think the priority should focus on water, on fresh water. We have managed to put back the basic services of electricity and telephone communications, improving the infrastructure that was damaged. But the fresh water is an issue on some of the islands, particularly on Nui. We really need to keep a close eye on that to make sure the fresh water is available for all the people. Especially the children. And also sanitation that we need to do to address that on Nui and try to avoid an outbreak of sickness and all that. And we have deployed an experts to the island and a couple of other islands so that they can keep an eye on those things but I think those are the main areas that we really need to keep a close look on - water, sanitation and hygiene on the islands.

JT: Tuvalu was scheduled originally to have elections, they were of course postponed after Cyclone Pam. Has there been any further development on the situation with the elections. A date and such forth?

ES: No, I think we have postponed the general elections two times and now elections will be held next week on Tuesday. That was the latest postponement that we had. Last week on Friday, we uplifted the strong wind warning, the state of emergency for the whole of Tuvalu. And even though the disaster co-ordination committee continues to do its work. But general elections, we have put it to Tuesday next week. This is the second postponement. I think it was simply right and necessary to attend to the lives of the people that were affected by Cyclone Pam and make sure things are ok for them before we can finalise the dates for general elections. I'm so happy with the support and understanding of the people of Tuvalu.