The following news brief was prepared by Pacific Islands Report, the daily online news publication of the Pacific Islands Development Program at the East-West Center in Honolulu, Hawaii. Please visit: www.pireport.org.

PORT MORESBY, Papua New Guinea (PNG Post-Courier, Feb. 4, 2008) - Women, children and the elderly living along Milne Bay's mainland Rabaraba, particularly in the villages Biniguni, Kwagira and Kewansasap, are faced with starvation.

Death in terms of their gardens having been destroyed by the flood that hit the area in November. The flood caused by Cyclone Guba has left more than 13,000 homeless, hungry and gardens ruined. People in these villages rely on their food gardens and what they can get from the environment like hunting and fishing.

The first lot of supplies have reached the area brought in by the PNGDF Navy thanks to Red Cross and residents of Papua New Guinea who have given with their heart.

But not all is well with villages in need of food, clothing, fishing nets, cooking utensils, shelter and medicine. Residents at the Rabaraba station where the food has been dropped for Biniguni, Kwagira and Kewansasap villages have confirmed that people in the nearby villages have been stealing goods including clothing, cooking utensils and water containers destined for the needy.