NIUE RECOVERING FROM DISASTROUS HURRICANE

Press, Volume XCIX, Issue 29107, 20 January 1960, Page 9

NIUE RECOVERING FROM DISASTROUS HURRICANE

[From a Special Correspondent]

ALOFI, NIUE, January 9. This little isolated outpost of New Zealand territory, the island of Niue, is today, nearly a year after the devastating hurricane of February, 1959, gradually recovering from the blow which made a quarter of its population homeless, and crippled its limited economy. Its recovery is due to four factors—the resilience of tropical nature, the help given at the time by the Government and the people of New Zealand, a well-thought out rehabilitation plan and, not least, the industry and courage of the Niueans themselves. Nature was particularly kind. Only a few hours after the hurricane blew itself out in the early hours of February 27 the sun shone brilliantly ’from a cloudless sky and so the weather remained for the next two or three days, permitting drenched clothes and possessions to be dried and temporary shelters to

be plaited from coconut leaves. Then came the air-drop of tents from the New Zealand Government and the arrival of the Tofua with material from Suva and the American ice-breaker with provisions.

The following month came public and private gifts on the next visit of the Tofua, while in the meantime, under the guidance of the Resident Commissioner, Mr D. W. R. Heatley (who had been only a short time on the island when the hurricane occured), the villages, each helped by a volunteer European, had cleared up the debris and taken hygienic and sanitary precautions to avoid the outbreak of disease. The hurricane came towards the end of the rainy season but very fortunately the “dry” season brought unusual quantities of rain, with the result that crops made a remarkable recovery. Taro, yams and kumeras, being root crops, had suffered very little, and in the outcome produced bumper yields. Bananas, which were only just recovering from the disastrous drought of the previous year, were, however, very badly knocked back, and even now exports of bananas are scarcely under way again.

The worst blow of all was dealt to copra, the main source of cash income to the island. Apart from the thousands of trees destroyed, almost every nut on the trees that still stood was blown down. The abundant rain soon produced a rich formation of new nuts, but they are slow-maturing fruit, and it is not expected that copra, which can be made only from the mature nuts, can be made in any quantities until March or April. When it does start, doubtless large quantities will be available, but in the meantime, very 'unfortunately, exceptionally favourable world market prices have been missed.

As for re-housing, a generous and ingenious scheme was announced by the Minister for Island Territories, Mr Mathison, and is being energetically put into effect by the administration of the island and the people. A sum of £72,000 was approved by the Cabinet as part-loan, partgift, for the rebuilding of 400 houses wholly or partly destroyed. With the Niueans providing their own “punga” (burnt coral limestone mortar) and timber from their own trees, a delightful little house can be built for £l5O, complete with louvres, a fibrolite roof and a 400-gallon water tank. Each Niuean family coming into the scheme undertakes to repay £lO a year for 10 years, and the “Ioan” will then be regarded as “amortised.”

Two European supervisors have been provided by the New Zealand Government and these move around the villages, giving technical help. An essential condition is that all the heads of families participating in the scheme form “teams” and under the control of village committees proceed to build and repair houses in turn and not each man for himself. The teams have to follow the directions of the supervisors and build to one of the various attractive plans prepared by the New Zealand Government architect. Special arrangements are made for the houses of the elderly or infirm, or of widows. Meanwhile the administration has gone ahead with its own rebuilding requirements—offices, new quarters for unmarried staff, and school and hospital improvements has provided work and cash incomes for all able-bodied men and women who normally would have been engaged on copra-making. Of course, not everything has gone according to plan. The tremendous work of reconstruction and extension has'taxed the labour resources of the island, with its 4700 inhabitants, to the utmost; and hold-ups in the delivery of concrete-mixers, block-making machines and so on have also slowed down the rebuilding scheme. But things are moving rapidly now and it is quite certain that when the project with all its ramifications has been completed, the villages of Niue, noted already before the hurricane for the high standard of their neat little white-washed Coral-lime-stone houses, will be the smartest of all the Southwest Pacific islands.