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Assessment of UngoofaruIsland, Ra atoll, 2
January 2004
Meeting / discussion with
Mr Ali Najab, Coordinator
Mr Abdulla Imad,
Assistant Manager
Mr Ahmed Shareef, Public
health supervisor
Mr Hasan Sharif,
community health workers
Mr Muhammed Arsif, public health unit
Site visits to
UngoofaruPublic School
Club Youth Star
Morning Vaadhee house
Situation
1173 people displaced from Kanduhooloo
island evacuated to Ungoofaru: 527 women, 589 men.
Current distribution
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Site
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Total No.
|
Under age 3 yrs
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Under age 1 year
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Pregnant
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Breast feeding
|
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Ungoofaru school
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162
|
20
|
2
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2
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10
|
|
Morning Vaadhee
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36
|
4
|
1
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0
|
2
|
|
Club Youth Star
|
43
|
6
|
1
|
1
|
3
|
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Anna Rumaaje
|
32
|
3
|
2
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0
|
3
|
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Maadhuni guest house
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43
|
2
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1
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2
|
2
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Remaining evacuees distributed in 85 other houses
(<10 per house).
Comment: Mostly women and children seen
during the day – men may return to the island to recover possessions etc
Currently proposed to re-settle evacuees in new sites,
including Ungoofaru and not return to Kanduhooloo. Clearing of re-settlement site commenced.
Daily counts and surveillance for infectious disease / environmental
conditions being undertaken.
Assessment
1. Accommodation
School crowded (40/classroom); Club Youth Star OK; House
was crowded (one room per family – 4 families). Insufficient mattresses at
the school.
No mosquito netting (comment :
not the mosquito or dengue season, but complaints about mosquitoes); no
mosquito coils.
2. Water supply
Drinking water; all use rainwater but supplies at school
low (improved following rain in previous 2 days). Island is running low on
drinking water (rain water)- sufficient only for
further 5 days.
Storage available: household rainwater collectors
(2.5kl) and community collectors (15 x 4.5 kl)
Open dug wells: water used for washing / a few
high quality wells used also for cooking water due to scarcity of rainwater.
Water quality fair (not brackish). Chlorine being added to wells daily by
PHU.
3. Sanitation
All households have individual pour flush latrine
connected to septic tank and soak away pit. Tanks rarely if ever desludged.
School site: 6 latrines available for 160 people –
insufficient.
Morning vadhee: 2 latrines for
4 households and Club Youth Star 1 latrine for 43 people – complaint that
insufficient.
Latrines at all sites visited appeared to be functioning
satisfactorily and clean.
Pooling of greywater at site
of blocked pipe at the toilet block (also used as bathroom / laundry) at
school.
4. Solid waste
management
Food scraps and used baby nappies not properly disposed
of at school site; also food scraps accumulating at the Youth Star Club.
Inadequate garbage collection containers.
Solid waste disposal site visited: area of beach on
North-East of island – disrupted by tidal wave and exposed to sea. Separation
of solid waste no longer practised.
5. Mosquito control
Some unused wells noted – uncovered and mosquito
wrigglers present.
Rubbish (broken desks, etc) noted at school site which
could become mosquito breeding sites.
6. Nutrition and
feeding
Normal food being consumed, apparently sufficient
quantity, concern re availability milk formula for babies at school site.
Concern expressed re process to access food supplies
(complex, requiring contact with several people).
Cooking facilities satisfactory. Handwashing
facility + soap available.
Underweight in infants common in the community –
children weighed monthly and supplementary food provided when no weight gain.
Immunisation and vit A
distribution.
Recommendations
1. Accommodation
School: remove stores from storage class room and make
available for accommodation. (Note that people recently transferred out of
school to Maadhuni)
Identify isolation room for possible infectious disease
cases.
Provide mosquito repellent (eg
electric )
2. Drinking water
Urgent need for additional drinking water to be
provided.
Recommend as site for emergency short term desalination
plant (being offered by German government).
Short term potential to supplement through more use of
existing roof coverage not yet connected to rainwater collectors. School has
additional unutilised roof space.
Continue chlorination of open dug wells used for cooking
/ washing.
3. Sanitation
Chlorine be added to the site
of greywater pooling at the school immediately.
Repair / and / or additional soaking facility at the
school.
If evacuees remain longer at the school, consider
construction of additional latrines and septic tank + separate laundry
facilities.(space available).
4. Solid waste
management.
Provide additional garbage collection containers with
lids at school and Club youth, and encourage disposal of nappies / waste;
provide regular emptying and transport to waste disposal site.
Identify responsibility for waste disposal among evacuee
group.
5. Mosquito control
Cover and / or fill in unused open dug wells.
Collect and dispose of rubbish at school site.
6. Nutrition and
cooking.
Review process of accessing food supplies to reduce
impression of dependency.
Improve availability of milk formula and suitable infant
food.
Improve availability of detergent for cooking and
cleaning.
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