Causeway collapse plays havoc in Kiribati

Transcript

Government ministries, businesses and schools have been affected by the near collapse of part of a main causeway in Kiribati.

The only link between Betio and South Tarawa is the Nippon Causeway, which was forced to close on Wednesday night after being damaged by high seas.

The port of Betio is the country's main port, with much of the cargo and fuel supplies transported from Betio, via the causeway.

Leilani Momoisea reports.

The Kiribati government communications officer, Rimon Rimon, says strong winds, waves, and heavy rainfall contributed to a portion of the causeway almost collapsing on Wednesday.

He says public works officials worked overnight to open the causeway early on Thursday morning.

But he says only one lane was open, and it was restricted to vehicles which weigh less than two tonnes.

"People in government commuting to work has been affected, also the school children are being affected. Not only the damaged part of the causeway, other parts of the causeway have been also damaged, and it's causing travelling or commuting on the causeway very difficult."

Some schools were closed as a result of the damage, while others were closed because of recent flooding.

The Kiribati director of hospital services, Dr Purentau Teiporiki, says as a result of the causeway damages, hospital resources were re-assigned according to where staff live.

"Those who are staying in Betio, they won't come to work at the main hospital, they will focus in Betio. Those who are staying from Bairiki, they are assigned for the main hospital. Betio hospital also looks Bairiki village and Nanikai village, but with this current situation, the main hospital is now looking after Bairiki and Nanikai.

The operations manager for import and distribution company Moel Trading, Willie Maen, says their main warehouse is on Betio, and the weight restriction on the causeway impacted their business immediately.

"Our warehouse on the South Tarawa area has run out of main commodities like rice, flour, sugar, and some of the fast moving items."

Willie Maen says they can't afford to deal with the problem much longer.

"We need this connection through the causeway to be restored as soon as possible, otherwise its food supply to South Tarawa, from Betio, as well as the fuel delivery, as service stations are on the other side also have run out of fuel, so there will be a lot of inconvenience to be experienced by the residents of the other side as well as the business community."

Rimon Rimon says the government is on top of things, and has been working around the clock to get traffic on the causeway back to normal as soon as possible.

On Friday morning, progress on repairs had been made, and the travel weight limit had been lifted five tonnes.

He says this means school buses were able to travel on the causeway on Friday morning, though the limit will still have some effect on other supplies.

"A lot of that comes from Betio and at the moment it will affect that, but the government is on top of this. They are making an exception to some of the tanker trucks to drop off fuel on the other side of the island. They will be escorted carefully by police over the Nippon Causeway to make sure that they don't get into trouble. The government will continue to see that those services are not affected."

Rimon Rimon says public works officials will continue to work throughout the weekend, to ensure all repairs to the causeway are completed.

He says the government has already been in discussions with the Japanese government, who funded the causeway, about long-term strengthening solutions.

Meanwhile, Rimon Rimon says the government is also bracing itself for another spring tide, that's due to hit next week.