Minister for Rural and Maritime Development and Disaster Management Inia Seruiratu says over the last 10-years, tropical cyclones have cost Fiji over $3 billion in damages and 67 deaths.
While speaking during the visit from the Governor-General of Australia David Hurley at the National Disaster Management Office warehouse in Walu Bay, Seruiratu says natural hazards and climate change poses one of the biggest challenges to Fiji’s development aspirations.
Seruiratu says 44 lives were lost during Tropical Cyclone Winston in 2016 and we suffered $2 billion in damages.
He adds the Australian Government provided a total of $35 million in humanitarian assistance to Fiji in the form of immediate response, early recovery assistance and reconstruction support.
He says they also provided over $7 million in direct assistance to communities and to support the government and non-government organisations after TC Yasa and Ana in 2020 and 2021 respectively.
The Minister says the Vuvale partnership has further strengthened the ties between the two nations.
Meanwhile, the Governor-General of Australia David Hurley says money is a critical component of recovery but it means nothing if there are no systems in place and the people are not in place to actually deliver the effect they want on the ground.
He also acknowledged the assistance provided by Fiji during the 2020 Australian bush fire, stating that the engineers changed lives.
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