No One Knows
pp. 77-78 · Read in the full issue
Real Cost Of Suva Hurricane
From Our Own Correspondent
Suva. Mar. 23.
TWO months after Fiji’s costliest and most publicised hurricane, the exact cost of the disaster to the Colony is unknown. Probably no one ever will know beyond a vague generalisation.
Reconstruction of the wrecked Suva Wharf area is likely to cost about £1,000,000, but no one will hazard a guess at the total property loss suffered by Europeans alone. It is estimated that the loss suffered by the Fijian banana-growing industry is £lOO,OO0 —some estimates go very much higher—but no one has yet estimated the loss represented by the destruction of several thousand Fijian houses and of dozens of Fijian food-producing areas in northern and eastern Viti Levu, the northern Yasawas and a part of Kadavu which was struck after the hurricane had swept over Suva.
Add to this the damage done to many Indian settlements and the enormous losses of personal property suffered by Europeans, Fijians, In dians, Chinese and others alike and you get back to the original vague estimate of several million pounds’ damage—including, of course, the bills for the restoration of communi cations and other Government in stallations, as well as for the heavy damage suffered at the goldmining and sugar-production centres in the hurricane belt.
About 30 persons are known to have been killed during the storm, but it is not known how many died from injuries inflicted by the hurri cane.
Donations For Relief
11/lAJOR contributions towards hur ricane relief in Fiji are as fol lows: New Zealand Government, £10,000; United Kingdom Govern ment, £10,000; New Zealand Herald (Auckland) Fund, £11,000; Methc. dist Australasian Board of Missions (for immediate relief purposes of the Methodist Church in Fiji), £5,000; Government of Fiji, £2,000; Fijians of Lau Province (for Fijian relief in the devastated areas), £2,000; Gov ernment of Malaya, £3,000; Bana bans of Rabi, £1,500; Colonial Sugar Refining Company, £1,000; Govern ment of India, £1,000; Morris Hed strom Ltd., and associated companies,
£L,Ooo.
The gift from the Government of Malaya is assumed to be a graceful gesture of appreciation for the bat talion of Fijian soldiers which are to take part in the jungle war. Every report that comes from Malaya in dicates that the Fijians are immensely popular and, as was to be expected, have built up a splendid reputation since their arrival at Singapore in January.
The contributions listed above do not include many hundreds of gifts of money and goods from individuals, firms and organisations in Fiji and overseas.
Ready For Tourists
Accounts given by recent arrivals
from Suva, Fiji, made it clear that hurricane damage has been cleared up in remarkable fashion and that by the time the tourist season opens in May, Fiji will be ready for visitors.
This, of course, is pleasant for the tourists—but it goes further than that. Tourism is an important in
dustry in Fiji these days and one that is steadily expanding under the direction of a few private-enterprise enthusiasts.
Rebuilding Villages
It is estimated that about half of the houses destroyed in the Fijian villages which were in the path of the hurricane have been rebuilt, A major problem is the shortage of thatching material—not only did the hurricane destroy the houses but it destroyed also the palms and trees that usually supply thatch.
An organised effort is being made to supply thatch from areas not affected by the blow, and in this there has been remarkable co-operation from all sections of the community.
The cutting has been done volun tarily by Fijians, mainly from Nad roga, and by groups of Indians. The boys of Natabua Indian Secondary School have joined enthusiastically in the work. The thatch has been carried by the Colonial Sugar Re fining Coy’s railway system to Tavua, and then by lorries loaned by the Associated Gold Mining Companies of Vatukoula, to the places where it is needed. in the first period of relief the Red Cross and St. John Relief Fund distributed 4,400 lbs of biscuits, 4,896 lbs of sugar, 3,312 tins of milk, 1,848 tins of meat, 348 tins of fish and 727 lbs of tea to villages stretch ing from Navua to Raki Raki, These distributions were designed to alleviate the miserable conditions immediately following the hurricane and to help villagers to recover from shock. Since then staple foods have been distributed—l2,6s6 lbs of rice, 9,000 lbs of flour, 7,716 lbs of sugar and 6,500 lbs of biscuits.