FLOOD victims at FOPA village have been given until June 21 to vacate the centre.
Chairman of the victims committee confirmed this to the Solomon Star yesterday.
Charles Ketea said the authorities have given them until June 21 to leave the camp since the budget to support them has already been exhausted.
But Mr Ketea said although the date to vacate is June 21, they can’t leave because they have no houses to move to.
He said the government might as well kill them if it wants them to leave the centre.
“We are already victims. We were lucky to survive the floods with only what we have and were taken here to stay. Now they told us to vacate this place again, how many times are we going to be victims?” Mr Ketea questioned.
He said they will not move out but will try and find whatever to support themselves and families even if the National Disaster Management Office (NDMO) ceased its support.
Mr Ketea added that despite the situation they have been through and the notice of vacation, they have in mind two options.
One is to move back to where they lived before which is at Koa Hill on the river bank and settled there or move with tents to the land promised to them and rebuild themselves.
The chairman said even though the city council has stopped them from returning to where they used to live, if they are forced out of the FOPA centre, they just have go back there.
He added the promise of the lands minister has given them hope and they could move there and rebuild themselves with whatever they can.
“Our understanding is that the land has already been plotted according to number of homes destroyed. So why is this delay?
“The truth is we have nowhere else to go. We have nothing and what can we do?
“If the government is concerned for its citizens, it should not act this way. We are all contributors to the country’s economy and the development of this nation.
“But if the authorities want to move us by force, what can we say or do? We are victims and can’t do anything because we are currently helpless,” Mr Ketea added.
He said the government should not act this way because at the end of the day they are in a different situation to the rest of the population.
By DANIEL NAMOSUAIA
