People living on the drought-sticken Long Island in Papua New Guinea's Madang province have been promised help by the provincial government.
A six month drought has been affecting the more than 5 thousand people on Long Island.
The newspaper 'The National' reports that nine islanders reportedly died after they ate sago because there was no other food available.
The Madang governor, Jim Kas, visited the island last week after the newspaper carried a front page story highlighting the plight of the islanders.
He says the provincial government will provide weekly charter flights to enable public servants to deliver government services to the people on the island.
The paper reports the people who live there have been missing out on basic government services for years, mainly because of communication problems.
