Prime Minister John Key has been welcomed at Naiyala High School in Fiji, flattened by cyclone Winston, to see the rebuilding work first-hand.
Home.nzcity.co.nz/10 June 2016
Resumen: Este viernes por la tarde, el primer ministro, John Key de Nueva Zelanda, fue recibido en Naiyala High School de Fiji para ver el trabajo de reconstrucción de primera mano requerido después de los destrozos causados por la tormenta categoría cinco, con la que se vio afectada hace tres meses dejando 44 muertos y un rastro de destrucción de gran parte de la infraestructura escolar su paso. El ministro de Educación de Fiji, Mahendra Reddy rindió un homenaje a la contribución de Nueva Zelanda, pais que ha ofrecido y concretado una gran ayuda para reconstruir una serie de escuelas de Fiji. Dijo que mientras que todavía están luchando para restaurar un sentido de normalidad en algunas áreas, la generosidad de Nueva Zelanda sería recordada en los años venideros. la contribución total de la ayuda de Nueva Zelandia a Fiji ha superado los $ 15 millones.
The village of Naiyala, about an hour’s drive on winding, hilly roads from Fiji’s capital Suva, was almost completely destroyed by tropical cyclone Winston.
The category five storm smashed into Fiji just a little over three months ago, leaving 44 people dead and a trail of destruction in its wake.
Roofs were torn from buildings by winds of up to 300km/h, essential infrastructure suffered critical damage, and many Fijians found themselves homeless and sheltering in evacuation centres.
When Winston hit, New Zealand was among the first of Fiji’s neighbours to respond, sending both financial aid and practical help.
It was one of the first major tests of the renewed relationship between the two countries.
More than 500 defence force personnel were deployed to Fiji in the immediate aftermath of the disaster to help pick up the pieces and begin the rebuild.
Major General Tim Gall, who headed up the defence force’s Operation Pacific Relief, said one of the things the Fijian government was determined to do in the days and weeks after the cyclone was create a sense of normality for the people.
That meant the priority was on getting schools, health clinics and community facilities rebuilt and back up and running.
«Once the kids were back at school the parents could then get on cleaning up their crops or rebuilding their house,» Maj Gen Gall told NZ Newswire.
In Naiyala that meant Kiwi soldiers were tasked with helping the Fijian authorities put a roof back on the local high school.
«The main effort was rebuilding the school, the kindergarten and the health clinic,» Maj Gen Gall said.
«This village was almost completely destroyed and those were the priorities the Fijian government had.»
On Friday afternoon, Prime Minister John Key was welcomed to Naiyala High School to see the rebuilding work first-hand.
Students waving Fijian and New Zealand flags lined the driveway down to the school’s main buildings.
Children sang the New Zealand national anthem and Mr Key received a traditional sevusevu before being shown around some of the rebuilt classrooms.
Fiji’s Education Minister Mahendra Reddy paid tribute to the contribution New Zealand made in helping to rebuild a number of Fiji’s schools.
He said while they are still struggling to restore a sense of normality in some areas, the generosity of New Zealand would be remembered for years to come.
New Zealand’s total aid contribution to Fiji has topped $15 million.
Fuente: http://home.nzcity.co.nz/news/article.aspx?id=227888&cat=978&fm=newsmain%2Cnarts
Imagen de uso público tomada de: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/71/School_destroyed_by_Cyclone_Winston_in_Tailevu,_Fiji.jpg
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