The total of K10 million has been allocated by the government to go towards the relief supplies for the displaced people from the Mt. Ulawun volcano eruption in the West New Britain (WNB) province this week.
This was confirmed by the Minister for Defence and caretaker Minister for National Disaster, Win Bakri Daki, when responding to questions from the Governor for West New Britain province Sasindran Muthuvel, during question time in parliament today.
The governor asked the Minister to request for assistance from partner countries of Papua New Guinea (PNG) like Australia and the United States and China, in terms of assessing the magnitude of the disaster and also supply of materials to rebuild the communities affected by the natural disaster.
The governor said this because the extant of the damages caused by the eruption and the subsequent ash fall and lava flow, is massive and its been almost a week now that the people are living in the various care centers.
The Minister assured him that his province would receive the funds very soon.
“The prime minister acted quickly to allocate the K10 million for the relief supplies to your people,” said Minister Daki.
“This K10 million will be diverted to your provincial disaster office in the next few days for access of funds to get supplies like food and water for the affected people.”
Also, the minister confirmed that a formal request has been sent this morning to PNG’s partner countries for assistance and they expect a response soon.