A Manus Island refugee says there is no food or medicine available in the East Lorengau Transit Centre due to the ongoing roadblock by landowners.
The roadblock at the ELTC Photo: Refugee Shaminda Kanapathi
Since yesterday, heavy vehicles have been used to barricade the road to prevent service providers from entering.
The United Nations refugee agency said the roadblock stemmed from ongoing opposition from local landowners to Australia contracting the company JDA Wokman to provide caseworker support services.
The agency said service providers had also been prevented from entering the two other refugee facilities on the island.
The Kurdish journalist and refugee Behreouz Boochani said staff from the healthcare provider IHMS have also been unable to pass the roadblock.
He said Australia needed to find an urgent solution to prevent a critical situation.
Landowners still blocking the road. They won’t allow IHMS and JDA staff to come in. We are now hostages of landowners. There is no food and medicine here and if they continue it will be a critical situation. ABF should find a solution urgently.#Manus
— Behrouz Boochani (@BehrouzBoochani) December 19, 2017
