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Midway seeks NMI help in handling ‘boat people’
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Posted on Sep 02 1999
Authorities from Midway island have been consulting the Commonwealth Health Center on how local staff handled the medical examination of illegal Chinese who were brought to Tinian after a fishing vessel carrying some 140 Chinese arrived on that island.
Public Health Secretary Joseph Kevin Villagomez said the medical team in Midway has been calling Saipan for technical advise since they were not prepared to handle a big number of illegal Chinese.
“They want to know how to set up medical equipment or X-ray machine because they do not have biomed staff,” he said.
The original plan was to divert the boat to Tinian but it was later on sent to Midway in fear the dilapidated vessel would not reach its destination.
Over 500 Chinese immigrants stayed in the tent city in the Northfield area of Tinian island until they were sent home two months ago. Although CHC provided some supplies, a team of medical personnel from the US Public Health Service arrived on the island to handle the medical needs of the illegal Chinese immigrants.
Two weeks ago, the U.S. Coast Guard again diverted a Chinese vessel to Tinian island carrying some 155 illegal Chinese. (LFR)
