El Nino may bring famine to Papua New Guinea

El Nino may bring famine to Papua New Guinea

PORT MORESBY (AFP): Up to a million people are facing starvation here because of severe drought and frosts caused by the El Nino weather phenomenon, Papua New Guinea's emergency services officials warned yesterday.

National Disaster and Emergency Services director-general Leith Anderson said the worst drought for 50 years had afflicted the whole country and in three Highlands provinces severe frosts destroyed the last of the food crops.

Unconfirmed reports here said 20 people had died already.

"People are dying, people are suffering," Provincial Affairs Minister Simon Kaumi said.

Anderson, told AFP yesterday that the situation was "pretty desperate".

"If we do get a traditional wet season toward the end of this year the chances are that it will be late and it will only be a short one," he said.

"It's a nationwide disaster alright, all the 19 provinces are affected in one way or another."

He said the worst hit provinces are Enga, Southern Highlands and Western Highlands and there is no sign of the drought easing.

The national disaster committee is to meet today to draw up a submission for Prime Minister Bill Skate.

Skate said earlier this week 300,000 people faced starvation but Anderson put the number at closer to 400,000 yesterday and said it could rise to one million -- a quarter of PNG's population.

Skate announced the cabinet had released four million kina (US$2.8 million) for immediate drought assistance.

Many Highlands villagers are dependent for food on gardens slowly being destroyed by the drought linked to the global El Nino effect.

"There hasn't been any rain and the gardens began to die and then in the Highlands the frosts came and destroyed off the last of the food," Anderson said.

"These people now have no food to sell to make money to buy in food."

Two of Papua New Guinea's greatest rivers, the Fly and the Strictland, used to be navigable into the Highlands, but the Fly is now only a small creek and the Strictland has dried up completely.

As a consequence, the huge Ok Tedi gold and copper mine owned by Australia's BHP Co. Ltd is being forced to close with potentially serious economic results.

The National newspaper said the closure of Ok Tedi and the scaling down of the Porgera gold mine would seriously affect the country's economy.