Robert Khan – 
The international community has rallied behind Fiji to support the recovery of Fijians in the aftermath of Tropical Cyclone Winston, the most destructive on record in the Southern Hemisphere.
Reports said that 12 people lost their lives, while more than 13,300 lost their homes and were being sheltered at various places.
Many foreign governments, notably, Indian, Australian, New Zealand, Japanese and those in the Pacific Islands, were quick to rush money, food, medicines and other material.
Fiji’s Prime Minister Voreqe (Frank) Bainimarama told Radio Tarana that he valued the support extended by businesses and individuals in New Zealand.
“We appeal to the people around the world to show their solidarity and support Fiji in this hour of need. Tropic Cyclone Winston has caused large-scale devastation and the damage in monetary terms is more than F$ 1 billion. We thank the New Zealand government and New Zealanders for their support. People of Fiji will work together as a nation and rebuild the loss from this disaster. We are resilient people and my government will provide all necessary support,” Mr Bainimarama said.
The Radio Tarana team went into action, forgetting their own comforts. We worked relentlessly without a break for more than 72 hours from February 21, covering the developments in Fiji. Our RJ Jileesh worked continuously for 32 hours staying inside a container in Mt Roskill, collecting food parcels.
Our anxiety was to reach the essential supplies to the victims throughout Fiji. Radio Tarana received hundreds of phone calls from people in Fiji, since the radio stations in Fiji could not function for a while.
Robert Khan is Managing Director of Radio Tarana. Related stories appear under Homelink. We have received reports from a number of organisations and groups about their relief efforts.
Photo: Thousands of relief packages being loaded into Radio Tarana containers bound for Fiji which was devastated by Tropical Cyclone Winston last month.
