07th March, 2018 Tonga will receive $10 million financial backing from New Zealand to assist with the recovery efforts following TC Gita.
The Rt. Hon Jacinda Ardern at a media stand-up at Pili said, “The demand and the need are much greater than the initial response which is why we are here today to offer to the government an additional $7 million dollars specifically for the recovery and the wake of Gita.
She said that the assistance is likely to go “directly into schooling and education” to rebuild both primary schools and secondary schools that were badly damaged.
The additional $3 million dollars according to Ardern will go into the efforts of power restoration for local communities.
“New Zealand has already been working alongside operators on the ground to upgrade the connection around Tonga but obviously Gita has provided a bit of a sit-back and the need to use some of the provisions that were already here for that upgrade, to go into restoring power in the villages.”
“Power is critical to get critical services back up and running.”
In a media statement, Ms. Ardern stated, “New Zealand is committed to standing with our Pacific neighbours during times of natural disasters and we know first-hand how difficult the recovery effort can be following a significant event.”
The statement also acknowledged that New Zealand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the Ministry of Education will collaborate with the Tongan Government to “provide school materials and assistance aimed at getting schools back up and running as soon as possible.”
Ms. Ardern also met with local line mechanics that were on the site to restore the village power along with line mechanics from the New Zealand based electricity company, Northpower.
ENDS
Issued by the: Ministry of Meteorology, Energy, Information, Disaster Management, Environment, Climate Change and Communications.