Papua New Guinea government says Friday's landslide buried 2,000 people and formally asks for help
Melbourne (AP): The Papua New Guinea government said a landslide on Friday buried more than 2,000 people and has formally asked for international help.
The government figure is around three times more than a United Nations' estimate of 670.
In a letter seen by The Associated Press to the United Nations resident coordinator dated Sunday, the acting director of the South Pacific island nation's National Disaster Center said the landslide “buried more than 2000 people alive” and caused “major destruction”.
Estimates of the casualties have varied widely since the disaster occurred, and it was not immediately clear how officials arrived the number of people affected.
Australia prepared on Monday to send aircraft and other equipment to help at the site of a deadly landslide in Papua New Guinea as overnight rains in the South Pacific nation's mountainous interior raised fears that the tons of rubble that buried hundreds of villagers could become dangerously unstable.
Australian Defence Minister Richard Marles said his officials have been talking with their Papua New Guinea counterparts since Friday, when a mountainside collapsed on Yambali village in Enga province, which the United Nations estimates killed 670 people. The remains of only six people had been recovered so far.
“The exact nature of the support that we do provide will play out over the coming days,” Marles told Australian Broadcasting Corp.
“We've got obviously airlift capacity to get people there. There may be other equipment that we can bring to bear in terms of the search and rescue and all of that we are talking through with PNG right now,” Marles added.
Papua New Guinea is Australia's nearest neighbour and the countries are developing closer defence ties as part of an Australian effort to counter China's growing influence in the region. Australia is also the most generous provider of foreign aid to its former colony, which became independent in 1975.
Heavy rain fell for two hours overnight in the provincial capital of Wabag, 60 kilometers (35 miles) from the devastated village. A weather report was not immediately available from Yambali, where communications are limited.
But emergency responders were concerned about the impact of rain on the already unstable mass of debris lying 6 to 8 metres (20 to 26 feet) deep over an area the size of three to four football fields.
An excavator donated by a local builder Sunday became the first piece of heavy earth-moving machinery brought in to help villagers who have been digging with shovels and farming tools to find bodies. Working around the still-shifting debris is treacherous.
Serhan Aktoprak, the chief of the International Organisation for Migration's mission in Papua New Guinea, said water was seeping between the debris and the earth below, increasing the risk of a further landslide.
He did not expect to learn the weather conditions at Yambali until Monday afternoon.
“What really worries me personally very much is the weather, weather, weather,” Aktoprak said. “Because the land is still sliding. Rocks are falling,” he added.
Papua New Guinea's defense minister, Billy Joseph, and the government's National Disaster Center director, Laso Mana, flew on Sunday in an Australian military helicopter from the capital of Port Moresby to Yambali, 600 kilometers (370 miles) to the northwest, to gain a firsthand perspective of what is needed.
Mana's office posted a photo of him at Yambali handing a local official a check for 500,000 kina (USD 130,000) to buy emergency supplies for the 4,000 displaced survivors.
The purpose of the visit was to decide whether Papua New Guinea's government needed to officially request more international support.
Earth-moving equipment used by Papua New Guinea's military was being transported to the disaster scene 400 kilometers (250 miles) from the east coast city of Lae.
Traumatised villagers are divided over whether heavy machinery should be allowed to dig up and potentially further damage the bodies of their buried relatives, officials said.
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Adani touts financial strength, shows can grow without external debt
New Delhi (PTI): Billionaire Gautam Adani's conglomerate on Monday touted its financial and credit details of its portfolio companies to investors, showcasing its robust profits and cash flows that can sustain growth without reliance on external debt.
The ports-to-energy conglomerate, which has been hit by an indictment in a US court against its founder chairman Gautam Adani and two other executives for allegedly bribing Indian official to secure solar power contracts, in a presentation to the investors highlighted its consistently expanding profits and cash flows, which over a period have led to lowering dependence on debt for its growth ambitions.
Equity now accounts for almost two third of its total asset creation, a stark contrast to five years ago. In the last six months, the group has invested close to Rs 75,227 crore, against a total debt increase of only Rs 16,882 crore.
A note was also shared with the investors, along with presentations.
Outlining the group's liquidity position, the note said, "Adani Portfolio companies have sufficient liquidity to cover all debt servicing requirements for at least 12 months. As of September 30, 2024, Adani Portfolio companies had a cash of Rs 53,024 crore, which was close to 21 per cent of its total gross debt outstanding".
This amount, it said, was sufficient to cover the next 28 months of debt servicing requirement.
GROWTH WITHOUT DEBT
In the past, the group has announced plans to invest over Rs 8 lakh crore (USD 100 billion) across portfolio companies in the next ten years.
The Fund Flows from Operations (FFO) or cash profits stood at Rs 58,908 crore for the last twelve months and is growing over 30 per cent for the past five years. On the basis of this, even after assuming no growth, the group will be able to invest Rs 5.9 lakh crore only from its internal cash accruals over the next ten years, leaving very little dependency on external debt.
Further, at the portfolio level, there is very low debt gearing of 2.46x -- which means it has massive headroom for debt, according to the presentation.
Other highlights from the presentation included EBITDA (earnings before interest tax and depreciation) for the last twelve months, which it said is highly stable and hence predictable due to its infrastructure projects, which grew by 17 per cent to Rs 83,440 crore.
Also, existing annual cash flows alone can pay the entire debt in 3 years.
Gross assets/investments increased by Rs 75,227 crore, against total debt increase of only Rs 16,882 crore. Asset base has now increased to Rs 5.5 lakh crore.
Average cost of borrowing at 8.2 per cent, lowest in the last 5 years, due to upgrade in ratings across group companies, it said.
Adani Group's long-term debt from domestic banks was Rs 94,400 crore. This stood against a cash balance of Rs 53,024 crore, most of which was parked with Indian banks.
Borrowings from global banks were 27 per cent of total debt.
