Foreign Minister Murray McCully has announced that New Zealand will make $500,000 immediately available to agencies assisting flood victims in Fiji.
“In addition to the reported deaths, thousands have been forced from their homes and into evacuation centres. The situation is severe as Fiji is still recovering from January’s floods and many agencies will not have fully replenished their supplies,” he said.
Mr McCully said New Zealand’s funding will be provided to the Fiji Red Cross, and other non-government agencies well positioned to respond to the flood relief efforts. New Zealand will always help the people of Fiji when disaster strikes, he said.
“We will continue to monitor the situation closely and consider further support based on the needs of relief agencies who are working with flood-affected communities,” Mr McCully said.
New Zealand provided $350,000 to the Fiji Red Cross to support the response to severe floods in January and a further $1.5 million to the Fiji Natural Disaster Management Office (NDMO) to refurbish evacuation centres.
Communications restored
A Fiji government notification said that the Western Division was fast recovering with most of the major infrastructure and essential services being restored as authorities work around the clock to help the country bounce back.
Provincial Development ministry Permanent Secretary and NDMO head Inia Seruiratu told the media that affected communications and services including telephone, automated teller machines and EFTPOS machines had been restored.
“However, disruptions will recur since some machines were damaged by the flood waters. Electrical installations have suffered substantial damage, which was why most of Fiji was experiencing power disruptions,” he said.
Unlike the earlier predicted timeline, the Fiji Electricity Authority had indicated that power restoration could be quicker than initially estimated.
This is due to the quick resolution of logistical matters and the increasing accessibility to areas where problems had occurred.
Water risk
Mr Seruiratu said hotels and residential areas that experienced water cuts were being supplied with water and this would be on going until normalcy of services was restored.
He highlighted Health Ministry’s concern about the possibility of an increase in water-borne and vector-related diseases but the ministry was already working on prevention strategies.
Food ration will be further boosted as more supplies are being sent to the West, he said and added that the government was appreciative of the donations from civil society and businesses.
Pouring donations
The Latter Day Saints Church and Colgate-Palmolive Limited handed over relief supplies to Mr Seruiratu. The Church donated more than $36,000 worth of essential food items, blankets and bottled water to the National Disaster Management Office.
Church President Kenneth Klinger said he looked forward to the opportunity of assisting flood victims, even if they were not members of the Church.
“It is critical that the Church worked together with the government in providing relief and assistance,” he said.
Other organisations that provided relief included ADRA, a subsidiary of the Seventh Day Church, Rotary International, Asco Motors, Fiji Water and Rotary Fiji.
Governments of Australia, China, New Zealand and the US, the Japan International Agency, United Nations Development Programme, World Health Organisation and United Nations Children’s Fund have pledged support.
“It is reassuring to know that we have friends who are there by our side in our times of need,” Mr Seruiratu said.
“We are aware that there are Fijians in the Western Division who are in desperate need of assistance. We appreciate the assistance and would like to assure all, that the assistance received will benefit flood victims,” Mr Seruiratu said and added that the government was doing its best in restoring essential services in the Western Division despite limited resources and constraints.
