29 Sep 2012

Tonga's tsunami rehabilitation project near completion

4:32 am on 29 September 2012

The head of a project in Tonga to rehabilitate the northern island of Niuatoputapu following the devastating earthquake and tsunami says the recovery process is near completion.

Tonga, Samoa and American Samoa will this weekend mark the third anniversary of the 8.1 magnitude earthquake and tsunami, which killed 186 people.

The manager of the post tsunami reconstruction project for Niuatoputapu, Peni Vea, says so far 39 out of 73 new houses have been handed over to families who became homeless as a result of the tsunami.

"The roads to the new settlements have been completed and we're also looking at repairing some of the existing roads, resealing them, that were damaged by the tsunami. And also we have installed a rainwater harvesting system which will be provided to all houses. And also we'll be upgrading the reticulated water system."

Peni Vea says a further 34 new houses for tsunami victims will be completed by the end of November.