4 Mar 2014

400 people still in evacuation centres following Fiji flooding

3:04 pm on 4 March 2014

Health officials in Fiji are assessing the sanitation conditions in some villages before 400 people still in evacuation centres after last week's floods can return to their homes.

The Disaster Management Office director, Manasa Tagicakibau, says 11 evacuation centres are still open in the central division of Fiji.

Mr Tagicakibau says while most houses were not damaged, flooding has not receded in some villages and debris still needs to be cleaned up.

He says health officials are doing what they can to make sure people do not get sick from water-borne diseases or dengue fever.

"They are moving around with chemicals to neutralise larvae in stagnant waters. They are also conducting assessments on individual households and communities before they can really tell people to move back into their houses."

Manasa Tagicakibau says the costs of repairing damaged infrastructure has not yet been assessed.