Nguna/Pele proposing cash-for-work program

The Area Council of Nguna and Pele islands off North Efate in Shefa Province, is one of the, if not the, first Area Council or Provincial Council to put together a set of reports that will help the National Disaster Management Office (NDMO) and donor organizations to help with the Area’s rehabilitation after the devastations of Cyclone Pam one months ago.

According to Levi Tarosa, speaking on behalf of the Chairman of the Area Council, commonly referred to as NgaPe, Donald Manamea, they have produced two reports – the Cyclone Pam Situation Assessment Report 1 and the Severe Tropical Cyclone Pam Rehabilitation Plan for Nguna/Pele.

With some assistance from Shefa Province, the NgaPe Area Council, they put together an adhoc committee or an assessment team, called Situation Assessment Team. This team visited the 15 villages of Nguna and Pele – 11 on Nguna and 4 on Pele, to assess the situation on the two islands of Nguna and Pele after the cyclone.

“The team didn’t necessarily assess the damage, but assessed what relief was received by the people of the 15 villages, who received what relief, who were responsible for the distribution, if all the villages received the relief and was it fairly distributed,” Tarosa said.

“We identified these over three days and we produced the Situation Assessment Report 1 which also covered gaps in the distribution and complaints if there were any.”

Secondly, during the assessment visit, the team started putting together information for a Cash-for-Work Program, an internationally-recognized program, utilized by many international humanitarian organizations during the aftermath of natural disasters.

“On Nguna and Pele, our main source of income is markets – the selling of garden and food items at the Port Vila markets. Obviously all the crops for markets are gone. This where we will use the cash for work program until after three months when our cash crops are ready for marketing again,” Tarosa explained.

“With the cash for work program, we plan to cost community work such as planting gardens for families, clean villages, clear roads, and restore conservation for one particular village. The work is to be valued and paid for by aid agencies through NDMO.”

“The key thing is for the communities to identify the work to be done,” Tarosa continued.

Council office for Nguna Pele Area on Nguna was damaged in Cyclone Pam. As a private initiative, the Port Vila Office of Tarosa Investment Group Limited, DeROZA, was offered for use as an interim administrative office of Nguna/Pele Area Council to help negotiate funds for disaster relief or prepare reports. These reports will be presented to the responsible cluster groups of NDMO.