| Summary: | This challenging film begins with scenes from the devastation after the 2004 eruption on Manam Island and the evacuation of the population. Manam Island is a volcanic island located 12km off the north coast of Madang Province in PNG. Eruptions damage houses, pollute water supplies and devastate gardens leaving them covered by thick layers of ash and tephra, leaving the Island almost uninhabitable after the 2004 eruption. Most of the 9,000 displaced people were taken to three care centres along the Bogia coastline: Asuramba, Potsdam and Mangem. Land traditionally used as coconut plantations was allocated for provisional resettlement. The Red Cross Caritas and World Vision assisted refugees with basic emergency supplies and the Government provided subsistence food for a year. But, what is the situation now 12 years later? The film highlights the experience of people in the face of intermittent volcanic activity on the Island, and conflicts of interest on the mainland, in terms of their right to land, food, health and education. Hospitality provided on the mainland by local hosting communities has to cope with the expanding refugee population and their needs for necessities such as garden land and housing materials. A message emerging repeatedly from people interviewed in the film is the responsibility of the government to resettle the people displaced by the volcanic activity on the Island.
|
|---|