Tonga needs $90m for volcano recovery

UNITED NATIONS－A month after an undersea volcanic eruption and ensuing tsunami lashed Tonga, a UN official said on Wednesday that 80 percent of the Pacific island nation's 105,000 people were affected and the country needs over $90 million to start repairing the damage and restore its farming and fishing sectors.

Sanaka Samarasinha, the United Nations' resident coordinator for Tonga, said during a virtual news conference from neighboring Fiji that "the anxiety hasn't gone away with the receding waters of the tsunami".

The cyclone season is still in full swing, and there are almost weekly earthquakes in the region, the latest a magnitude 5 quake just 47 kilometers from the capital, Nuku'alofa, Samarasinha said. He said no damage had been reported.

The eruption on Jan 15 left a thick layer of volcanic ash blanketing Tonga's main island, tainting much of its drinking water. Several small settlements on outlying islands were wiped out, and the tsunami severed the sole fiber-optic cable that connects Tonga to the rest of the world. Four people died.

Samarasinha said 14 UN agencies and the international community are supporting Tonga's relief and recovery efforts, providing almost 40 tons of water and sanitation supplies, reconnecting Tonga with the rest of the world through emergency telecommunications services and logistics, and providing food, school materials and psychological support.

Tonga had been free of COVID-19 for almost two years but the volcano's aftermath brought the coronavirus to the island, when two Tongan dockworkers tested positive. Samarasinha said the country is in lockdown until Sunday, and because of its high vaccination rate－89 percent with double doses－those infected have displayed mild symptoms.

The eruption and its aftermath have caused an estimated $90.4 million in damage, a World Bank disaster assessment report said.

The damage is equivalent to about 18.5 percent of Tonga's GDP, noted the report, which is the first such assessment published following the disaster, according to media reports.

An estimated 85,000 people across the island nation have been affected by the volcanic eruption, the tsunami and the ashfall. Tonga's main island of Tongatapu recorded the greatest damage at about $69 million.

Agencies - Xinhua