NZ aid to assist Tongan schools to rebuild
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has announced a further $10 million in New Zealand aid for cyclone-struck Tonga.
She made the announcement at Fasi Government School in Tonga, which was badly hit by Cyclone Gita less than a month ago.
Most schools in Tonga were moderately or severely damaged, with 29 schools suffering major damage. The $10m is broken down into $7m for general aid for schools, and $3m to help fix the electricity grid. The announcement an unspecified illness. The Tongan king and the deputy prime minister are in China.
Tonga was the third stop on Ardern’s five-day Pacific mission.
New Zealand is already involved in a long-running upgrade to Tonga’s power network. Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters announced an additional $11m to continue those upgrades, to be granted at roughly $1m a year.
The school Ardern toured was still holding classes in Unicef tents. Ardern presented a package of reading materials for the school.
The education sector appears to have been the infrastructure worst hit by Gita, with hospitals and other critical infrastructure weathering the storm better.
After touring the ruined classrooms, Ardern said the scale of the damage was surprising.
Ardern met Pohiva at the new St George Palace, built with more than $15m of Chinese aid money.
She told news media that Tonga’s relationship with China and Pohiva’s ill health were not discussed during the meeting.
‘‘Our focus has been on New Zealand’s relationship with Tonga, not Tonga’s relationship with anyone else,’’ Ardern said.
Questions of Chinese influence have dogged Ardern’s Pacific mission, after Peters’ ‘‘Pacific reset’’ speech in Australia.
While not mentioning China by name he noted that ‘‘external actors’’ had become increasingly interested in loaning money to the region, and this was creating ‘‘strategic anxiety’’ in New Zealand.
China has given over a billion dollars to the Pacific in recent years through direct grants and concessionary loans.
The International Monetary Fund has raised concerns over the levels of debt the Tongan Government holds.