Tonga not yet ready for the Cyclone Season Featured
6 November, 2018. As the Pacific cyclone season gets underway there are fears Tonga will not be able to cope with another battering.
The Kingdom's still suffering after cyclone Gita nine months ago, and many people are still homeless.
Solo mother of five, Lucy Kupu lost everything including her home. Minoru Nishi is Lucy's boss, he helped arrange a tent for the family.
Mrs Kupu couldn't get government help, so her employer then roped in friends and charities to build her a new home.
“The second night it rained so hard I did what I could to encourage my kids that it’s not the end of the world,” she recalls.
While his farming and export business was hit hard by cyclone Gita Mr Nishi is more concerned for his staff.
“Not a night goes by without thinking what is coming, what could be coming, and to be honest we are not prepared yet,” he says.
Minoru Nishi's sister, Telumi, has taken in eighteen-year-old Kalo Tukia, who lost her home and was sleeping in an old parked car with her family.
Ms Nishi has given Kalo a job at Nishi trading, so she can support her younger siblings. The business also employed students fundraising to repair their cyclone damaged school and seasonal workers from struggling areas.
Another Nishi worker depending on his paycheck to help his family is farm manager Mateo Lautaimi. He lost his home in the cyclone, and three months later his wife.
“My wife was stressed and had high blood pressure. She passed away three months after the cyclone, but I think part of it is was the impact of the cyclone,” he said.
And so, Tonga’s recovery is still a work in progress.
“We need technical support, we need government support to really work as a group collectively to address some of these bigger challenges as a country,” say Mr Minoru.
-TVNZ
3 comments
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This is a sure sign that for the Government to function properly Tonga need to bring in people of non Tongan background like in the days when palangi expatriate were heads of department and locals as assistant . Some may say that is being prejudice NO , in all honesty when foreigners were on contract to the Government every department ran like a well oiled machine , and because they are from abroad they have no ties with the locals therefor no nepotism and none of the sniping , and accusation , mismanaging of public funds and the carrying on that's going on today . to prove my point , as soon as the Government started handing over management to locals to take charge that section starts going down , and why do I say that ? ;how did that happen .? because one has only to look at the ruins at Haveluloto to prove I'm right TONGA COPRA BOARD , TONGA CONSTRUCTION AND COMMODITY STORE the DESICCATED coconut factory went belly up THE PACIFIC NAVIGATION COMPANY LTD all gone how did that happen?because locals took over and instead of doing something to rejuvenate those workplaces they run it to the ground .and we wonder why Tonga is still not fully recovered from the last hurricane ; because people in charge of hurricane relief are guilty of robbing and not bothering to do their utmost to get things moving due to corrupt practices , nepotism and a lot else we do need expatriate as department heads under Tongan Ministers like the old times . We have Judges in the justice system the Police commander they are all from abroad , why not put one in charge of hurricane relief as director responsible for all aspect pertaining to the reconstruction of houses to replace the ones that was destroyed . Start with families that are vulnerable still living in tents look after the people first , fix up drainage system to get rid of the mud and stagnant water in ditches so as to dry the ground for the children , Government infrastructure reconstruction comes second , whatever Government decides , at least do something for the people YOU promised so much ! you'd do for them .There was so much AID monies pouring in that the minister in charge of hurricane disaster relief pockets must be bulging .??? .
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Kuo osi tufa pa'anga e Pule'anga pea mou hoko atu a koe toenga ko'eni tuku ia ke hoko atu 'aki e Tili..
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With due respect to the unsolved issues and problems of Gita I'd like to warn the Government that worst issues are still lingering in the areas affected by Ian in 2014. Some involve misleading claims including a property destroyed by Ian but that property was destroyed by a previous cyclone before Ian. I propose an independent team be appointed by Government to double check the reconstruction in Haápai and appoint the Governor to oversee the task.