Aid delivery struggles in Micronesia following Typhoon Maysak
The Lieutenant Governor of the Federated States of Micronesia state of Yap says authorities have no idea whether aid has reached all the people who need it, more than a week after typhoon Maysak.
Transcript
The Lieutenant Governor of the Federated States of Micronesia state of Yap says authorities have no idea whether aid has reached all the people who need it, more than a week after typhoon Maysak.
James Yangetmai says the category five typhoon devastated the atolls of Ulithi, Fais and Faraulep, destroying infrastructure and crops, and contaminating water supplies.
He told Jamie Tahana authorities have been busy distributing food, water and other relief supplies by boat to the outer islands, but the supplies stored on Yap are starting to run out and FSM is starting to rely on foreign shipments.
JAMES YANGETMAI: There is no question that our food relief drive is, you know the government has already, along with the private donations, we've sent to the islands rice, and water, and canned goods to make sure everybody has food. And the food supply that we've sent out was for a two week period and so while we're waiting for that time period we'll send more as supplies become available on island. One of our setbacks is that we do not have that many food items in our stores on island. There are shipments arriving, you know, as we're speaking I can tell you that two days ago there was a cargo ship that arrived and has bought some food items on island and we know of one more coming and at the end of the week there are a few more coming. Hopefully when those cargo ships arrive with the food items we'll go ahead and send them out to these designated islands.
JAMIE TAHANA: For the people on the islands themselves many don't have shelter, food crops have been wiped out and it's largely subsistant. Have food supplies reached everyone who's been devastated? They've been shipped out over the past week, has everyone who's in need received relief at this point?
JY: I know that there were some food items that were shipped out including the ones I mentioned, you know, that were shipped out by the government, as to whether they reached everyone on the island I'm not sure. The governor and I plan to be on the ground some time next week to assess and speak to the people there, as we're speaking there was also another assessment team that flew out this morning.
JT: Are you saying we're not quite sure if everyone who's been affected has received relief yet?
JY: That's right, and hopefully when we're on the ground next week we'll find out more information.
JT: In terms of shelter, are people still living in schools and government buildings and stuff? What's the situation with the thousands of homeless right now?
JY: Ah yes, they're living in makeshift homes like tents and I've seen photos of some shelters they've put together. There's only the roof but nothing on the side, there's no wall on the side -- just to, I guess, shelter them from the heat and rain. We're hoping that, you know, with the cargo ships that are coming into Yap in the next few days they will bring in tents or larger size tarps that we could send out to the islands.
JT: There must be health concerns though with all these people exposed, inadequate food and stuff?
JY: That's a big concern that we have and that's why we're trying to minimise the consumption of these contaminated waters and we're trying to provide as much water as we can but we still need, as I say, we don't have much here in Yap so we're hoping that more ships and donations will be coming from outside to assist us in that effort.
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