Aid workers warn of Solomons humanitarian crisis

By Rob Taylor

CANBERRA (Reuters) - Aid workers warned of a humanitarian crisis on Tuesday in the earthquake and tsunami-shattered Solomon Islands, where food and medicine were in short supply for thousands of people left homeless.

As aid began to trickle into the western Solomons provinces hardest hit by Monday's twin catastrophe, Australia's Council for International Development said first reports from aid teams in the impoverished region were alarming.

"It's quite devastating and things are looking bad. You started with poor infrastructure already and people there are very dependent on aid," the council's Pacific coordinator Neva Wendt told Reuters.

Australian aid agency Caritas said infection would set in quickly among those injured, while drinking water supplies posed an immediate problem.

"This is the tropics and infection will set in immediately. We are concerned about our supply of antibiotics for some of the injuries and anti-malarials for people who are staying outside," Caritas spokeswoman Liz Stone told Australian radio.

"Many water tanks have been damaged, and we also have a problem with food supplies. The gardens have been inundated, so there is a problem with fresh food."

Stone said shops had also been hit by the wave, with stocks of dry food destroyed.

The quake struck 350 km (220 miles) northwest of the capital Honiara and sparked a tsunami alert around the Pacific.

Wendt, whose organization helps coordinate aid agencies in the South Pacific, said despite the simple wood and bamboo construction methods used in the Solomons, buildings would not be easily rebuilt in poor communities reliant on fishing.

"You don't have concrete buildings crashing down on you, but it doesn't mean it's not a problem," she said. "It just becomes another layer of stress and strain on an already strained situation.

The majority of Solomon Islanders live on subsistence agriculture with less than a quarter of the population having paid jobs. Exports include timber, fish, cocoa and copra.

Civil strife and economic mismanagement by successive governments between 1998 and 2001 led to a 70 percent reduction in international aid, from $75 million to $28 million in 2001. In 2006 the country had a GDP of $322 million.

The Solomons National Disaster Council was expected to complete an aid plan later on Tuesday to assign aid priorities amid aftershocks continuing to rattle the country.

Government and Red Cross disaster teams are taking tents and supplies to the affected area. Australia has offered A$2 million ($1.6 million) in aid, while New Zealand offered NZ$500,000 ($360,000) and sent an airforce plane loaded with supplies, including water containers, blankets, tarpaulins, food and lamps.