The Minister for Health, Hon Saia Piukala said today that all main roads on Tongatapu have been cleared of debris and were accessible today.

He gave an update this afternoon on work underway to get Tongatapu back to normal following the destruction caused by Tropical Cyclone Gita on the night of February 12.

The Minister said the remaining debris on the small roads would be cleared soon.

“Tonga Power is talking to New Zealand and Australia today about financial and labour aid to quickly restore power back to Tongatapu,” he said.

“Water is up and running but we are asking people with leaking taps to please get it fixed so we have less problems with our water supply.”

“A team from the World Health Organisation and from New Zealand and Australia are surveying all the health centres and villages. They will report on the current water supply to the villages.”

He said that having access to water supply is very important at the moment, but people need to ensure they boil water before drinking. “It is safer to drink bottled water but if not, people need to boil water before drinking.”

The Ministry of Health plans to run a health program tomorrow on the radio advising people what to do to limit diseases after the cyclone.  

“People need to know that water-borne diseases will be a problem after a cyclone and we need to be cautious to diseases such as diarrhea which can be caused by what we drink and eat.”

He said since there is no power, fridges aren’t working so people need to make sure they assess the food in their refrigerators to make sure it has not spoiled before they eat it, or make sure they cook it properly before eating.

The National Emergency Management Office will provide another update tomorrow afternoon.