More than 30 families who live at the Ranandi rubbish dump in East Honiara are being repatriated to their villages in Malaita province with the assistance of Australian aid organisation, Compassion Australia, and the Honiara City Council.

Some of the families have been squatting at the dump for up to 15 years in conditions which the Department of Environmental Health says pose great health risks.

"The three main risks [are] biological risks, chemical risks and physical risks. So it's really a very bad condition for them. So in the end we have decided that they need to be repatriated home," said Tom Nanau, chief health inspector with Honiara City Council environmental health division.

At the official repatriation ceremony on October 14, a representative for the Ranandi Dump settlers, Pastor Alfred Akwai, thanked Compassion Australia, the South Seas Evangelical Church and Honiara City Council for coordinating the repatriation program.

Pastor Akwai said those who settled at the site had been unable to find jobs in Honiara and were forced to scavenge from the dump to survive.

Eager to return home
Compassion Australia spokesperson, Terry Tibbs, says the settlers are eager to return to Malaita.

"The families are excited about leaving this place and returning to their home villages," he said.

Compassion Australia has provided more than $AUD140,000 to settlers at the dump site to provide healthcare and assist with their relocation.

Mr Tibbs says a Compassion Australia committee, led by Solomon Islands country program officer, Mathias Lima, has been working through the issues to ensure a smooth transition for the settlers.

"[Mathias] has visited the villages where these people are from and spoken with the chiefs of the villages to let them know that there are people from the villages that would like to return home."

Mr Lima has also met with provincial leaders and the national MP in Honiara to prepare the way for the settlers "so that they will be received and welcomed back into their home villages", he said.

Preparing to leave
Tom Nanau says temporary tents have been prepared for the settlers who are now in the process of pulling down all their tents at the dump site.

"They will be picking up and putting aside whichever valuable piece of metallic iron or something like that that will be useful for them to take home," he said

The families will also be provided with building materials and given projects to work on to assist them on return to their villages.

It is anticipated the boat will be ready to take the families back to Malaita on October 20.


This story is based on interviews conducted by Caroline Tiriman for Radio Australia's Pacific Beat.