OPERATION PLES DRAI PAPUA NEW GUINEA DROUGHT

THE PNG AND AUSTRALIAN DEFENCE FORCES WORKING TOGETHER FOR THE PEOPLE OF PNG DURING THE 1997 – 1998 DROUGHT

CARIBOUS CONTINUE DROUGHT RELIEF

From the air there's no true indication of the drought that has hit Papua New Guinea.

Looking at the landscape you see a sea of green, trees and bushes are obvious, and it's hard to believe there's a crisis.

Once you're on the ground though there¹s no doubt of the gravity of the situation.

The greenery seen from 500 feet is obviously still there, however the brown of dead foliage is just as apparent. Dig the ground and it's obvious rain hasn't fallen for ages, and unless there's good rainfalls shortly, next year's crops will be as non existent as this years.

For this reason, OPERATION SIERRA, the Australian Defence Force in conjunction with the Papua New Guinea Defence Force and AusAID, began delivery of desperately needed food to the people in the highlands.

The target of 600 tonnes of supplies was exceeded during the first month, now the second phase of operations is underway.

Royal Australian Air Force Caribou aircraft from Townsville's 35 Squadron and 38 Squadron from Amberley have recommenced delivering much needed rice, flour and cooking oil.

In Central Province the village of Tapini, 4000 feet above sea level and about 45 minutes flying time from Port Moresby, needs about 30 tonnes of supplies to feed its people. There are about 22,000 people in the Tapini District, all dependent on the delivery of food

Mr Peter Maia, the Deputy Director Administrator for Tapini and the Coordinator for AusAID said there had been no crops harvested this year due to the drought, and at this stage next year's crops may also fail. "We've had about 30 mm of rain so far but that's nowhere near what we should have received," he said, "and unless we get rains shortly we'll have nothing next year," he added.

While the rain is the domain of mother nature, the relief is in the hands of man, and it's here the Caribou's are the perfect platform. Wing Commander (WGCDR) GEOFF TASKER, the Commanding Officer of 35 Sqn, is genuine in his admiration of the aircraft, "It's excellent, a true workhorse, and up here working in the highlands, moving gear from the lowlands is the ideal operation for the Caribou," he said.

WGCDR Tasker said the aircraft moved about 117 tonnes of aid during its first rotation, and with an average of five sorties per day per aircraft, between 20 and 23 tonnes per day will be airlifted during this rotation. "The crews are working long hours, they're starting early and finishing late, and there's a quite a lot of manual labour as well," he said. "The conditions are trying and there's also the mental edge in having to stay razor sharp the whole time," WGCDR Tasker added.

The RAAF does a lot of training in PNG and it's aircrew are not unused to flying in the highlands. WGCDR Tasker said there is one major difference now, the smoke haze. "It adds another dimension to our flying, we have enough trouble with the terrain and the cloud, and when you start mixing it with reduced visibility it puts an extra slant on the flying, but we obviously have procedures in place to ensure operations are very safe," he said.

WGCDR Tasker said being deployed on Operation Sierra was very satisfying for the crews, "We are able to see the benefits of the operation with the people receiving the food," he said, "and their reaction has been excellent. We¹re fortunate that we come to these strips anyway and we always get out and talk to the people. Having brought the rice in here and had a chance to speak to the people, you realise just how appreciative they are of the efforts we¹ve (the ADF and PNGDF) put in," he said.

By: Captain Grant King - December 06 ,1997

Caribou Continue Drought Relief Picture Gallery.