PM Acknowledges Aust, NZ, French Defence Forces On Rebuilding School

Prime Minister Voreqe Bain­imarama took time out on Thursday afternoon to ac­knowledge the services rendered the Fijian and international military forces in the rebuilding efforts of the Lekutu Secondary School in Bua.

He thanked the Australian De­fence Force (ADF), French Army, New Zealand Defence Force (NDF) and Republic of Fiji Military Forc­es (RFMF).

While acknowledging the servic­es of these men and women, Mr Bainimarama said he was grateful for the sacrifices they had made to be in Fiji away from their families to help rebuild schools that were damaged during cyclones.

The rebuilding of the damaged buildings in Lekutu Secondary School is in its final phase and is scheduled to be reopened in July this year.

Mr Bainimarama also farewelled members of the French Army that were scheduled to leave Fiji this weekend as their rotation period came to an end.

“Thank you so much for the work that you have done, I can’t thank you enough for the sacrifices that you have made,” he said.

“Thank you for your time, for your hard work, leaving your fam­ilies and ensuring that you help rebuild schools for the children of Bua. As you leave, please take all the wonderful memories and leave the bad ones behind.”

Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama with members of the Australian Defence Force, New Zealand Defence Force, French Army and Republic of Fiji Military Forces who are working on the rebuilding of the damaged buildings in Lekutu Secondary School.. Photo: Office of the Prime Minister

Rebuilding project

Project lead and member of the Australian Defence Force Major Benjamin Kuchel said the pro­ject was to rebuild two classroom buildings which consisted of six classrooms in School.

“The first phase was for three months last year from August to November and the second phase we started at the end of April and we will finish up towards the end of July with an opening ceremony when the building is complete,” Major Kuchel said.

He added that the Defence Co-operation between the countries involved was always a very impor­tant engagement and the Vuvale Partnership was also a priority to Australia.

“We really appreciate opportuni­ties such as this to come and assist post disaster rebuilding efforts and certainly we have appreciated the other side of the partnership where the RFMF coming to Aus­tralia during the bush fire in 2019 and also during the recent flood­ing in Australia. There is a lot we have learnt from the RFMF and we are thankful that we are sharing knowledge with the RFMF in the construction site, in the force and just by living together here for the past couple of months.”