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We wish to advise that flights have commenced flying into Kokoda with relief supplies for the 35 families we have identified as having lost all their belongings during Cyclone Guba.
Firstly thanks to Deanna Hart from Mackay for the donated bags of clothing; cooking equipment and utensils along with baby clothes and tyre tubes.
To Steve and Michelle Laney, thanks for the funds to purchase 2 ton or rice from Trukai.
We would also like to thank:
- Airlines of PNG – for freight on space available basis from Cairns to PNG
- Tropic Air for one FOC charter into Kokoda 20th Dec with over 1000 kg of rice
- Fastaway Freight Services for the transportation of bags to Cairns from Mackay on an FOC basis
- Cairns Freight for their time in consigning the goods on APNG
- Big Blue Storage in Cairns for storing the bulk of donations until they can be moved to PNG
- National Disaster for the dispensation clearance
- TNT for clearing quickly these goods on an FOC basis
- To Trukai Industries for the kind offer of distribution prices for the rice purchased
- To all our trekkers who contributed to either the Kokoda Track Foundation or ourselves
Our sincere thanks to each and everyone of you
Photograph: our Cessna 206, pictured, as of today has done three trips into Kokoda to deliver rice and other donated items:
Cessna_with_artwork_800_siza.jpgBags of rice being offloaded yesterday in Kokoda:
DSCN0024__Small_.JPGCrowds flocked into our newly renovated terminal building to check out our new aircraft which touched down for the first time on Kokoda soil Wednesday 19th December:
Airport_Terminal_Building_Dec_07.jpgOur first load of rice being loaded into our Cessna by our mechanic/driver Peter:
DSCN0004__Small_.JPGKokoda Trekking would like to THANK Tropic Air for flying over 1000 kg of rice over to Kokoda FOC for us last Thursday along with other needed items. Villagers from the affected areas walked a couple of days into Kokoda to pick up the rice we allocated to them.
Your help in moving our donations to the people of Kokoda is much appreciated by all of us. Thanks also for your prompt attention to the services offered by Tropic Air in getting away any charters we booked on a timely manner and for the courtesy you extended us as your client.
Photograph: One group of happy trekkers who flew across to Kokoda on a chartered Tropic Air Cessna Caravan:
Copy_of_IMGP4522__Medium_.JPGUpdate: 22nd December: So far we have done two trips in our Cessna 206 with another one down for Sunday.
We also have a charter booked with Airlines of PNG for Monday which hopefully will move the bulk of what we have left to Kokoda until the next lot of donations start to arrive from Cairns.
At the moment due to the heavy Christmas bookings, out of the 400 bags of donations, only 150 have arrived so far along with tyre tubes for crossing over Kumusi River.
Next week we will send down in our Cessna 206 a drum of diesel, petrol and kerosene to our base in Kokoda as our motor vehicles, tractor lawn mover (used to mow the airstrip) and generator used to renovate the terminal building at the airstrip have been grounded due to the fact we can no longer purchase fuel supplies in Popondetta and road transport them to Kokoda.
All rice will be handed out prior to Christmas firstly to the people we have isolated as having lost everything. After that we will hand out a 10kg to all our guides and porters as they may have food but have now run out of money as the oil palm company are no longer buying their produce and the prices in the shops have skyrocketed.
To think of ourselves in Australia opening presents and sitting down to a huge meal on Christmas Day with all the trimmings, and the majority of people in Kokoda having garden produce but no protein or rice to eat with their meal meant something had to be done. A 10 kg bag of rice will not last long with their large families but it will give them a change in their diet for Christmas. Do not get me wrong, no-one in Kokoda ever starves, quite the contrary, they probably eat more healthy then us, as they eat what they grow and with no cars they are very fit as they walk everywhere and work hard in their gardens. Its just the items they buy buy that they will find tough until their money for their cash crops starts to roll in again and/or the trekking season commences again.
I will be flying down to Australia on Monday to be with my own family for Christmas and will return once I hear the other donated goods from Cairns has arrived in PNG and been cleared by TNT. I will then travel down to Kokoda to inspect for myself what else if anything is still needed in the areas around the Kumusi area. By Sunday we should have 150 bags of donated items in Kokoda which will be handed out by Russell Eroro and our committee we have set up to handle this for us. Tony Ogomeni, Tom Hango, Trevor Avoko and our driver Richard Aire have walked around all the areas affected and produced a listing of people in need. The youth have walked home with the rice and will come back on Sunday to pick up the clothes/kitchen equipment and baby clothes.
Richard's sons have worked week in week out ferrying people across the Kumusi River on tyre tubes. Cyprian Aire is one of our regular porters and always finishes in the top 5 in our Kokoda Challenge Race each year. He also went to Australia in July to take part in the Kokoda Challenge Race on the Gold Coast so is very fit. His time from Kokoda to Owers' Corner was 20 hour 32 minutes when he finished in 4th place.
However, I do not think this is a quick fix as even as of yesterday the centre two pages of the National Newspaper were completely filled with the ORO province and Cyclone Guba mainly focusing on the Kumusi Bridge area which is where we are targeting for rice/clothing/cooking equipment and other items such as water containers.
I have heard that the Oil Palm Company have had flown in by helicopter, equipment to start trying to fix the roads and bridges but will know more once Russell Eroro flies into Kokoda and takes a look for himself as to what is happening in Kokoda. At the present moment road access stops approximately 10kg from Kokoda due to a landslide. My guess is they will try an fix this problem first and will then try and do something temporarily re a crossing for the Kumusi River otherwise they are loosing too much daily in lost revenue by not being able to move their oil palm to Popondetta.
Will keep you posted as I hear more !
Update 29th December: All donations received up to the 24th December have all been sent to Kokoda. Tony Ogomeni and his committee along with Russell Eroro were to hand them all out on the afternoon of the 24th.
Have been advised by Cairns Freight that around 90 bags of clothing and kitchen items have now been sent in the past two days to Port Moresby so should start to be cleared by TNT next week.
When I finally have them all in PNG I will arrange for a flight to take them over to Kokoda for further distribution to the needy people in and around the Kumusi area.
Today our own aircraft was to fly a drum of diesel and a drum of petrol into Kokoda but due to bad weather it was aborted. During the next couple of days our pilot will try again until he has them delivered to Kokoda for use in our truck and ambulance based there to help ferry people around.
All the best,and a happy new year to anyone reading this.
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