Solomon Islanders displaced by last month's flash floods have accused the government of neglecting their plight by failing to make a decision to release land for rebuilding.

Jeffrey Leni, head of the Flash Flood Victims Coalition Taskforce, says there is also concern that some of the food aid for victims is falling into the wrong hands.

"At the moment, we are just waiting for the response from the prime minister in relation to how best the government will address the issue of rehabilitation for the victims and the relocation of the victims who live in the disaster risk area," he said.

"We are just waiting for the government response in relation to what level of assistance they will give to those who are destitute, those who have lost their homes because the government hasn't come out very clear on what level of support or help [it] will be providing."

Seven weeks ago, the capital Honiara and the eastern plains of the island of Guadalcanal were devastated by floods that left 23 people dead.

Between 50,000 and 60,000 people - half the island's population - were left homeless.

There are still more than 4,000 people living in evacuation centres and there has been increasing tension over the distribution of aid and the slow pace of resettlement which caused riots in Honiara last weekend.

Mr Leni says there is significant empty government land available in the area above the King George VI school at Panatina.

"That could be a possible site for the government to secure and relocate those people who live in the disaster risk area because the land there is high above the Lunga River and we know that if there's flooding, there will be no problem," he said.

Mr Leni says the government response has been particularly slow.

"It is more than a month now and the funny thing about the government approach is that they leave the most affected people at the bottom of their program, meaning that they will be the last people that the government will be dealing with in relation to rehabilitating the victims.

"The Government [is] only dealing with those who still have their houses and only [their] food gardens were destroyed.

"The most affected ones who lost all means of livelihood - the government leaves them last and that's the concern here because I'm not sure how long the government will keep these people at the care centres."

 

Source: http://www.abc.net.au/