Govt Works Closely With Aust, NZ To Assist Volcano Victims

The Fijian Government is working closely with the Australian and New Zealand governments to coordinate a regional relief effort to Tonga. This follows the eruption of the Hunga-Tonga-Hunga-Ha’apai volcano on Saturday sending a plume of ash more than 30,000 meters into the atmosphere and producing powerful tid­al surges in the Eastern Division.

“We have not had an eruption of that mag­nitude so nearby to Fiji in living memory. And I doubt any one of us can ever forget hearing the blast or seeing the terrible im­ages of the devastation that followed,” act­ing Prime Minister Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum said.

“Many of our people have friends and fam­ily in Tonga and we know we are all anxious for the latest news as our Pacific sisters and brothers’ weather what’s been called a one-in-1000-year event.”

Government has expressed the Fijian peo­ple’s sincere condolences to Tongan Prime Minister Siaosi Sovaleni through a brief phone call on Sunday with Mr Sayed-Khai­yum. Formal written correspondence has also been sent to assure Fiji’s support to Tonga in their recovery efforts.

“Australia has established a communica­tion channel with Nukualofa and is pre­paring to dispatch the HMAS Adelaide to Tonga’s shores. We have offered to airlift dis­aster-ready RFMF personnel, who are have responded to crises in Fiji, in the Solomon Islands, and Australia, to ship out with the contingent of Australian troops.”

The 55 RFMF contingent are currently in isolation and will undergo testing prior to their departure to Melbourne after which they will fly to Tonga on Friday.