Transcript
SITIVENI RABUKA: I came around to visit the northern part of Viti Levu, the most stricken part after Cyclone Winston and even in the interior there, there are school buildings still covered in tarpaulins and in Ra, there are still students who are still undertaking classes in tent accommodation and destruction is still evident.
SARA VUI-TALITU: It has been 15 months. So what has been the delay do you think?
SR: I do not know. It is bad administration of the aid and the money has come from donors, but it has not been translated into rebuilding or rehabilitation activities by Fiji. We used to have the military engineers helping with rehabilitation but now that is not happening.
SV: Well how are people there coping? Are they just hoping things will change sooner rather than later?
SR: Well the sad part is that people have come to wait and accept that they just have to wait and use any local resources that they can get. Because the government has promised over the years to do rehabilitation. And those who can't afford to rebuild, must be assisted and one way of assisting is to have the skilled workers like the army engineers and a construction squadron.
SV: You raised in your release that you would restart a Cyclone and Rehousing Rehab Unit and Supplies Department. Well how would that work then?
SR: Well that would work very easily as all you would need to do is the admin would be part of it under the Ministry of Rural Development who would work with commissioners and district or provincial administrators as they are called now. They are the people on the ground and there'd be no false claims for those living in the city and therefore clearly getting some assistance. That had happened in this case and there were investigations carried out and some taken to task for lodging false claims. So there are many things that can be done. It had worked well in the past and I do not know why they changed it cos it was working well. My stance on that is that if its working, don't repair it but that is what they have done. They have tried to repair something that was working well, but they totally stopped it working.
