A new cargo ship MV Niuvakai is expected to start service this month, March 2014, and transport aid supplies to Ha'apai after it was bought by the Friendly Islands Shipping Agency.
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Results for Outer Islands
Friday 7 March 2014
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga

Monday 24 February 2014
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
Tongans in Melbourne have donated $7,150 pa’anga to Tonga’s Red Cross to assist with the ongoing relief efforts in Ha'apai following Tropical Cyclone Ian.

Thursday 20 February 2014
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
The Friendly Islands Shipping Agency FISA, yesterday 19 February announced its acquisition of the cargo vessel, MV Theresa, to transport cargo to the outer islands of Tonga and to nearby Pacific Nations.

Wednesday 19 February 2014
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
The World Bank has announced that it will fund repairs to damaged port, airport and roads in Ha’apai. “Cyclone Ian has caused devastating losses to thousands of people and will require long term efforts to rebuild safer and stronger,” the bank's Director for the Pacific Islands, Franz Dress-gross stated this week.

Friday 14 February 2014
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
The New Zealand Government has committed $40,000 (NZD) to Tonga's Red Cross to purchase guttering kits for over 500 homes in Ha'apai for clean rainwater collection.

Wednesday 12 February 2014
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
A $600,000 (USD) cash grant was handed over to the Prime Minister Lord Tu’ivakano from the Government of the People's Republic of China on 12 February, to assist relief efforts in Ha’apai.

Wednesday 12 February 2014
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
Essential food items were distributed to the people on ‘Uiha Island in Ha’apai on February 5 by the Tonga Red Cross Society. The food was donated by the 'Uiha Community in Nuku'alofa.

Tuesday 4 February 2014
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Nuku‘alofa, Tonga
The Sea Mercy charity – a floating health care service that routinely visits remote islands throughout the Pacific will visit Tonga’s Ha’apai Group to offer medical support earlier than usual this year.

Sunday 2 February 2014
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
A grant funding of NZ$1.7 million from the New Zealand Government was signed in Nuku'alofa on January 29 as part of a package to rebuild the electricity network in Ha’apai destroyed by Tropical Cyclone Ian.

Wednesday 29 January 2014
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
The reconstruction of destroyed homes in the Ha'apai group by Cyclone Ian on 11 January, stepped up another gear this week, with the arrival in Pangai, Lifuka island of the Minister of Land and Natural Resources, Lord Ma'afu and 30 staff. The team will start working to determine land-boundaries and land-ownership.

Wednesday 29 January 2014
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
Living in small tents superheated by the mid-summer sun, while going through the trauma of the devastation caused by Tropical Cyclone Ian, is the reality of life for families in the Ha'apai Group who are relying on outside assistance, after loosing all on the afternoon of January 11. A survey team has estimated that by mid-February the food crops would be used up in all the districts of Kauvai Ha’ano, Lifuka, Foa and ‘Uiha, which were badly damaged. Photos courtesy Mana'ia Halafihi.

Monday 27 January 2014
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
New Zealand is providing an extra $370,000 to assist relief efforts in Ha’apai including sending over technicians to help repair the electricity network. The announcement brings New Zealand’s support for the cyclone response to $2.27 million.

Friday 24 January 2014
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
Terrified and huddled together inside two church halls, the entire population of tiny Mo‘unga‘one Island – around 100 people, endured the destruction of their village by Cyclone Ian during the afternoon of Saturday January 11.

Thursday 23 January 2014
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
New Zealand is providing a further $1.4 million to help Tonga recover from Tropical Cyclone Ian, Foreign Affairs Minister Murray McCully announced on January 22. The contribution will cover resources needed to reconnect power to villages including on smaller outer islands.

Thursday 23 January 2014
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
Tonga's Red Cross is doing “fantastic work in helping Tonga get back on its feet,” said Westpac-Tonga's country head Dennis Quayle, whose staff is assisting in the the cyclone recovery effort.

Wednesday 22 January 2014
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
Electric power has been restored to over 100 homes and shops in Ha‘apai's main town Pangai, Ha'apai. However, Tonga Power Ltd's CEO John Van Brink has estimated it will cost around $5 million pa'anga to rebuild a more cyclone resistant power network on the island group, and the work will take a few months.

Tuesday 21 January 2014
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
The Tonga Development Bank (TDB) has deferred loan repayments, and waived interest charges and fees for its customers from Ha'apai for three months, in response to the destruction caused by Cyclone Ian.

Tuesday 21 January 2014
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
270 emergency response kits stored in Tonga by the Rotary club were sent to Ha’apai last weekend to aid residents in their recovery from Cyclone Ian.

Tuesday 21 January 2014
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
The Government of Japan will provide emergency relief goods including water tanks to assist relief efforts in Ha’apai following Tropical Cyclone Ian's destruction.

Monday 20 January 2014
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Nuku‘alofa, Tonga
A nine-year-old boy suffering from suspected appendicitis, and another woman patient, were evacuated from Ha‘apai yesterday, Sunday, by a French aircraft. Lemoto Latu of Fotuha‘a underwent emergency surgery soon after his arrival at Vaiola Hospital.
