A report on FijiLive puts the damage bill from the Fiji Floods flooding as approaching $FJD51 Million ($US30 million).
A bulletin from OCHA ( UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs) puts the cost of the Fiji floods even higher at more than $FJD71 million ($US40 million) in key economic sectors, providing the following breakdown
- Roads 17,951,438
- Water 11,910,000
- Works 1,180,000
- FEA 4,000,000
- Telecom 152,000
- Agriculture 17,416,693
- Education 3,188,650
- Health 606,544
- Sugar 10,530,000
- Housing 4,359,660
TOTAL 71,294,986
The latest OCHA bulletin says even with the situation in affected parts of the Western and Central Division returning to normalcy for the majority of people, there remain several concerns.
- A rise in communicable diseases is to be expected particularly given the extent of flooding, including areas covered with silt and mud, and continued disruption in urban and rural water supply. There is a high risk of disease outbreak. It says communities with no or limited access to safe water supply are considered to be at risk.
- Given extensive agriculture damages, food security in the next 3 months is under pressure for many, as almost 13,000 farmers have sustained damages. This raises particular concern for the most vulnerable people, including children, pregnant and lactating mothers, the elderly, disabled, the poor and those that remain in evacuation centres or with host families.
- There is an additional concern that the flood events, evacuations and subsequent hardship have caused stress on affected families and individuals.
OCHA is the part of the United Nations Secretariat responsible for bringing together humanitarian actors to ensure a coherent response to emergencies. OCHA also ensures there is a framework within which each actor can contribute to the overall response effort.
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