Two joint Government teams have departed for a six-day deployment to the Lau Group. [Source: NDMO]

Two joint Government teams have departed for a six-day deployment to the Lau Group.

This is following the aftermath of the impacts of the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcanic eruption in Tonga last week.

The two teams have been deployed on the MV Iloilovatu and the MV Veivueti.

The deployment which will be led by the Office of the Commissioner Eastern Division is part of the Government’s immediate response to the impacts of the recent volcanic eruption in Tonga, which according to information received by the relevant authorities had impacted parts of the Lau Group.

The teams will be visiting six islands in Lau to conduct Initial Damage Assessments (IDAs) and also deliver immediate humanitarian relief supplies for the severely affected villages.

Minister Disaster Management, Inia Seruiratu says the teams would also include technical and scientific expertise from the Ministry of Lands and Mineral Resources, the Ministry of Environment, the Water Authority of Fiji, and the Ministry of Fisheries who would be travelling to conduct assessments and the monitoring of the air and water quality, marine resources and food security in these affected islands.

Seruiratu says that the two teams will be visiting the islands of Moala, Vanuabalavu, Lakeba, Vatoa, Moce and Ono-I-Lau adding that as per the information they have received, these six islands have been identified as the only ones in the Lau Group that had sustained damage as a result of the tidal surges that inundated the villages last Saturday.

Ministers Jone Usamate and Dr Iferemi Waqainabete and Assistant Ministers, Vijay Nath and Selai Adimaitoga will be part of the deployment.

Minister Seruiratu has acknowledged the Australian Government for their continuous support, especially for the funding of these two deployments.