An assessment team sent to Western and Choiseul Province has recommended to government that certain villages be relocated.

The report, which had significant inputs from civil and religious agencies, including Save the Children and the Church of Nazarene, has covered large areas in Western province.

Save the Children have carried out a preliminary basic needs and child protection assessment in various villages across Western Province and reported a total affected population of over five-thousand-700 people.

The Church of Nazarene also reported that 20 houses in the areas assessed had been washed away while 80 houses need immediate rebuilding.

The teams continue to identify water and sanitation as urgent needs.

Some villages in the Shortlands were largely deserted, with most inhabitants living on higher grounds.

The group reported that no physical injuries were recorded as a result of the tsunami but there is a great deal of psychological trauma.