Seruiratu will announce total cost of damage for Ono-i-Lau this week

18 houses were affected, four were completely and 14 partial damaged

The total cost of damage caused by Tropical Cyclone Gita at Ono-i-Lau will be an­nounced this week by Minister for Agriculture, Rural and Maritime Development, and National Disas­ter Management Inia Seruiratu.

Provincial administrator Eliki Masa made the comment when asked by Fiji Sun about the total cost of damage at Ono-i-Lau.

The four villages in Ono-i-Lau are Motokana, Lovoni, Nukuni and Doi.

Mr Masa said food sources were se­verely affected by TC Gita.

Total cost of damage on the agri­culture sector is $321,162.

“From the various information gathered we will brief the perma­nent secretary Meleti Bainima­rama who will then brief Minister Seruiratu on the assessment,” Mr Masa said.

“About 104 members of a Govern­ment team returned last Saturday after spending six days inspecting the islands affected by TC Gita.

“There is not much damage on the infrastructure which is a good sign, however food sources were severely affected by TC Gita.

“At Ono-i-Lau 18 houses were af­fected, four were completely and 14 partial damaged.

“Government multi-sectoral as­sessment team also distributed food rations which will hold a village for a month.

“For Vatoa, Fulaga and Ogea there weren’t any damages recorded for plantations as well as infrastruc­ture,” he said.

Mr Seruiratu said the damage report assessment by government teams that toured the Southern Lau Group would determine the next course of action in terms of assis­tance for the four villages at Ono-i-Lau.

“The next step is for Government to determine costs once reports on damage are submitted to Na­tional Disaster Management Office (NDMO) permanent secretary,” Mr Seruiratu said.

“The food rations will be to help villagers during the initial recov­ery,” he said.

Edited by Percy Kean

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