New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) NH90 multi-role helicopters took Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama to visit disaster-stricken communities on Vanuabalavu Island, last Friday.

The Prime Minister, accompanied by New Zealand High Commissioner to Fiji Mark Ramsden and Colonel Glenn King, Commander of the NZDF task group overseeing the humanitarian aid operation in Fiji, visited a number of villages and work sites.

The NZDF has deployed around 450 people, two ships and six aircraft including two NH90 helicopters to support the New Zealand government’s assistance to Fiji as it recovers from the powerful storm.

The aid operation in Fiji is one of the NZDF’s largest peacetime deployments to the Pacific.

Multi-role vessel HMNZS Canterbury is anchored off  Lomaloma, the main village on Vanuabalavu Island, and is serving as the maritime base for the NZDF’s cyclone relief efforts.

Since arriving in Fiji March 3, the NH90 helicopters have been delivering much-needed aid supplies and transporting Government staff to remote communities.

They have been providing a critical link between the main population centres and the remote islands devastated by the cyclone.

Source: New Zealand Defence Force

Feedback: jyotip@fijisun.com.fj