School evac centres closed
Government reports indicate that preparations to start the new school year on January 18 is on track.
All schools that were used as evacuation centres in the Northern Division have closed.
These schools will now be fumigated by the Ministry of Health officials on the ground in anticipation of the start of the new school year on January 18.
Thirty six community evacuation centres remain active with 928 evacuees from 129 households in the Northern Division, while other ECs in the Central, Western and Eastern Divisions have been closed.
Meanwhile, a total of 85 schools were damaged by Tropical Cyclone Yasa in the Northern Division when the Category 5 Cyclone made landfall over the island on the evening of December 17, 2020.
Of these, 32 have been classified by Government as priorities for engineers from the Republic of Fiji Military Forces and the Australian Defence Force (ADF) teams.
Rebuilding works at some of these schools are already underway between the engineers from the two Forces.
Minister for Rural and Maritime Development and Disaster Management Hon. Inia Seruiratu said education was very critical to Government at the moment as they worked on getting students to school in line with the January 18 timeline.
“So 32 of the schools that have been assessed has been set aside for the RFMF and the Australian engineers for the temporary fixers. Again, these are temporary fixers and we are also thankful that there are some community members and individuals who are putting their hands up for the provision of some materials to assist us in the rebuilding of our schools,” Hon. Seruiratu said.
Minister Seruiratu said what was important now was that we have already had access, the next thing was getting the engineers to work on the temporary shelters and classrooms.
“At the same time we are also focusing on water; that all the schools are provided with water and electricity as well for those who are dependent on solar energy or through the main EFL grid system.”
He added this was the coordination the Commissioner Northern Division was undertaking.
Source: DEPARTMENT OF INFORMATION
