From the National. THursday 24th JUly.
Nothing in the Posguria !
600 stranded in Sydney
TECHNICAL problems with Air Niugini aircrafts had left about 600 Papua New Guineans stranded in Sydney, Australia.
The mainly catholic youths who had gone to Sydney for the World Youth Day were forced to seek refuge at Homebush, the home of the Olympic Stadium where many visitors were housed.
But the chilly Sydney winter had taken its toll with a number of youths coming down with cold, flu and malaria. A woman suffering from malaria had to be rushed to the Concorde Hospital for treatment.
The youths have medical cover for the pilgrimage which expired yesterday.
On Monday and Tuesday, they were taken to Sydney’s Kingsmead Airport where they waited in vain for their Air Niugini flight.
“We’ve been stranded here since Monday,” spokesperson Noel Wafie said by phone yesterday from Sydney.
“We are cold and sick here and no one has told us what was going on. Only today someone told us we may be bused to Brisbane to catch our flights,” Wafie said, adding the little money they went with had run out.
“We are the only ones here. Everyone else had gone home,” he said of the rest of the visitors from around the world who shared Homebush with them during the Pope’s visit.
Air Niugini admitted it was having problems with a number of its aircrafts.
Air Niugini marketing manager Colin Little said on Tuesday that the Boeing 767 that was scheduled to pick them up developed hydraulic problems and was grounded in Brisbane.
Mr Little said its crew had also run out of hours, and the company was sending a new crew from Port Moresby in an F100. Why they could not fly yesterday was not explained.
Mr Little also said the chartered Embraer aircraft had developed problems and was grounded in Nadi, Fiji, along with another aircraft used to ferry the PNG contingent to the South Pacific Festival.
Mr Wafie said the youths stranded were from different dioceses in the country including Rabaul, Wewak, Kerema, Mt Hagen, Kavieng and Simbu.
He said among them was a woman who was in her late stages of pregnancy, and they were worried about her health and wellbeing.
He said the World Youth Day committee was doing its best to assist them, but they received no visit from the PNG High Commissioner in Canberra.
It is understood late yesterday that Air Niugini had chartered buses to move them all from Sydney to Brisbane, where they will be uplifted back to Port Moresby.
It takes about a day to get from Sydney to Brisbane.