Thanks to a dedicated project team consist­ing of personnel from Australian, New Zealand and French Armed Forces, including the Republic of Fiji Military Forces’ man­power, the reconstruction of six classrooms of Lekutu Secondary School in Bua was completed.

Assistant Minister for Rural and Maritime De­velopment, Jale Sigarara, thanked them and respec­tive representatives from their embassies during the handing-over ceremony at the school on Thursday.

“I wish to take this op­portunity to acknowledge the support of the Austral­ian Government through the Vuvale Partnership in the re-construction of nine schools across Fiji,” he said.

Australian Government provided their defence personnel through the Vuvale Partnership. Photo: Australian High Commission

“I acknowledge the dedi­cated members of the pro­ject team who have worked tirelessly behind the scenes to ensure the completion of the project as planned.”

The classroom blocks were severely damaged by Tropi­cal Cyclone Yasa in 2020. The damages amounted to more than $1 million.

“Today, we again afford that right to the 220 plus stu­dents from the Lekutu Dis­trict who have been enrolled to pursue secondary level studies at Lekutu Secondary School.”

Since TC Yasa, students were relocated to other schools.

Most were relocated to Labasa College which was a one-hour and 22-minutecommute, one way.

“Good facilities create a favorable learning envi­ronment through which stu­dents can thrive.

“The learning environ­ment we create is reflected by the physical environment that we provide.”

Australian defence personnel discuss the construction plans of the newly built category 5 proof classrooms.
Photo: Australian High Commission

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