Chaos continues two months after Papua New Guinea landslide

People dig through mud and rocks after a massive landslide in Yambali village in Enga province, Papua New Guinea, May 28, 2024.
photo: Photo courtesy of World Vision

Two months after a landslide in Yambali village in Enga Province, Papua New Guinea, survivors have yet to find a permanent home where they can restart their lives.

The death toll from the disaster has reached hundreds, and thousands of displaced people are being treated in nearby villages or in tents provided by aid agencies.

Justine McMahon, CARE International’s Papua New Guinea country director, said finding land that people could relocate to and own was not easy.

Don Wiseman spoke with McMahon, who told him that two months on, the disaster area was still in chaos.

Justin McMahon: LMainly there were evacuation orders, which were completely reasonable and justified, but the authorities were still struggling to find land for people to move to. So it was quite a difficult situation. You know, living in that area in the upper highlands is complicated, and the existing tribal struggles and tensions over land use rights really exacerbated the difficulties.

Don Wiseman: IIn ordering people to relocate, has the government made no effort to find a relocation site or sites for them?

JMcM:TYes, but land in Melanesia, especially in the Papua New Guinea highlands, is generally very valuable and very sensitive to negotiate. So I expect it will take a long time for the authorities to negotiate for the land. Having said that, they are clearing the land near the landslide and it is safe for people. But that will also take a long time. So there are a lot of dynamics going on.

David: Hopefully they haven’t put people down a mountain that might be unstable elsewhere.

JMcM:WWhat they are doing now is relocating people to the area where the school is, where the land is flat. But they still need to find some land where people can move. Another difficulty is that, as I mentioned, there are existing tribal tensions that make people reluctant to move to another area where they feel unsafe. So it is very difficult for the authorities to negotiate.

David: CARE International has previously been involved in tribal war prevention in Enga Province. What progress has been made so far?

JMcM: Well, we’ve made a lot of progress, Don, but I think in the run-up to the 2022 elections, when there’s serious violence in the province, it’s not going to be safe for us to send people into the area. So we still have good relationships and connections on the ground. And we do use those networks to do humanitarian relief projects.

David: Now, we are hearing that tens of thousands of people, I would mention 70,000 people, are without food because the vegetable gardens have been destroyed by too much rain and the roads have been blocked.

JMcM: Yes, the PNG Defence Force has been working tirelessly for several weeks to build an alternative road. I think they have made great progress – it may take another few weeks. Regarding the numbers and the way people are looking at them. I think the numbers are a little confusing, both in terms of those who are directly affected by the landslides and those who may be affected by food shortages.

David: And of course, just down the road is the huge Porgera mine, which just restarted operations a few months ago. Is it back in operation? What’s going on there?

JMcM: They are doing what they can but they are also blocked off so I believe they are providing assistance with earth moving equipment and especially helping the defence forces with the new road but yes they are on the other side of the landslide so it is not an easy situation for them either and the whole area is very sensitive given the pre-existing dynamics around the mine.

David: CARE International spoke about the impact of polygamy in Enga Province, where it is prevalent, and how it affects or could affect the delivery of aid. Some families understand the system, others do not.

JMcM: Registration is very important. The authorities did it quickly and to the best of their ability. But I think over time it became apparent that initially the registration was only for single-parent families. For example, the first wife might be included in the registration, but the rest of the family, the second, third, fourth wife, was not always included. So there was a lot of variation in the distribution of relief. Often, only one wife and the husband would get relief. The others and their children were not on the list. So there were cases where they were left out. However, the authorities recognize that this was an oversight and are now addressing it, which is commendable.

David: How many people is your organization helping?

JMcM: We’re working in care centers, Don. We’re also working in some of the host communities. The numbers — we know the people in these areas. It’s hard to pinpoint the people who are directly impacted or who are somehow impacted. But we’re certainly working in care centers, and we’re also going to be working in host communities. So it’s a few thousand people.

David: Are there enough places to shelter the displaced people in nearby villages, or are some of them forced to live in tents?

JMcM: Some of them are living in tents donated by the international community. That’s very welcome. Others are living in host communities, but again, you know, it’s a complex situation for people living in the area who have been uprooted and are now visitors to these communities. So they are very helpless, but it also puts a burden on the host communities.

David: It’s been two months since the disaster, but its impact will continue for a long time, right?

JMcM: Definitely. I think, as we discussed before, negotiating the land issues so that people can relocate. I think that’s going to take quite some time given the sensitivity. So in the meantime, what happens to those who are directly affected? They’re either in the host communities, where tensions are likely to rise as the situation progresses because the burden on the host communities increases and people can’t do anything. But the other issue is also the lack of capacity to start the recovery process. So, yes, it’s a very, very tragic situation.