Filipino News 166

02 ISSUE 166 CYCLONE GABRIELLE | www.filipinonews.nz | email: filipinonews@xtra.co.nz | www.trabaho.nz | Facebook: Filipino Migrant News
MIGRANT NEWS - www.migrantnews.nz : New Zealand’s first Migrant community newspaper. Published since 1991. Print. Online. Social Media.
PM praises the “community driven response” to
the worst storm this century
By RICKY MATTHEW
Photo: Jaymin McGuire
Photo: Jaymin McGuire
AUCKLAND, Henderson
– Prime Minister Chris
Hipkins has praised the
“community driven response”
to Cyclone
Gabrielle as a National
Emergency is declared –
for only the third time in
the country’s history - to
cope with the worst storm
New Zealand has seen this
century.
As this unprecedented
weather event poses a real
threat to the lives of New
Zealanders, the government
has unveiled a $11.5
million package for community
groups and
providers responding to
the crisis.
Addressing media at the
Trust Arena in West
Auckland, Chris Hipkins
said that West Auckland is
one of the worst hit spots
by the cyclone. The Trust
Arena is one of numerous
shelters in the area that are
offering displaced members
of the community a
place to sleep and food to
eat.
Hipkins said: “I want to
acknowledge the situation
that New Zealanders have
been waking up to this
morning. A lot of families
displaced, a lot of homes
without power, extensive
damage done across the
country.”
The Prime Minister later
added that 2,500 people
have been displaced,
including 1,000 people in
Hawkes Bay alone.
Additionally, 225,000 people
are without power. This
hasn’t been seen since
Cyclone Bola in 1988.
The Prime Minister
praised what he called the
“community driven response”
and said that: “The
volunteer response around
the country has been a
phenomenal one. We have
seen community groups
coming together to support
their fellow Kiwis who
have been in need and I
really want to thank
them.”
This praise comes after
an announcement on the
13th of February by Hon
Carmel Sepuloni, Minister
for Social Development
and Employment, about a
much-needed increase in
funding for community
groups that assisted in the
Auckland flood response.
Sepuloni said that a
$11.5 million package for
community support has
been rolled out, $2 million
of which has been allocated
to grants for community
groups to support the flood
response. The amount that
community groups can
receive under the fund will
be capped at $3500.
The additional funding
will be important for supporting
the numerous
migrant community
groups that were assisting
in the Auckland flood
response and who are now
likely to be called upon for
the Cyclone Gabrielle
response.
Many migrants who had
just begun to steady themselves
after the floods were
faced by a new threat and
had to turn back to the
very community organisations
and agencies that had
Prime Minister Chris Hipkins
assisted them through the
floods.
These groups have, in
the past, provided shelter,
food, cultural support,
counselling and financial
support to the migrant
communities in Auckland.
One of these organisations
is the Supreme Sikh
Society NZ. “So far, we
have provided over 5,000
hot food and food parcels
to flood victims.
“Our aim is to serve
humanity without knowing
their culture, religion, cast,
greed, or gender.”
The Chairperson of the
Ethnic Women’s Trust,
Fadumo Ahmed said that
her team was concerned
about those who are facing
a language barrier when
trying to access support.
“It is really hard to go
through the system for
some. They are victims
once they’ve lost their
house.
“They feel they need
more help and they feel
isolated. Each person has a
different culture and different
food and clothing
need, we respect that.”
The Ethnic Women’s
Trust has 3500 people
Photo: Jaymin McGuire
ready to help, many are
women and all are
migrants.
They are providing
emergency shelter, food,
and bedding to support
Muslim women and children
who have been
impacted by the flood.
Meanwhile Ikhlaq Kashkari,
President of the New
Zealand Muslim Association,
said that his group
has “opened its mosques
across Auckland as emergency
shelters for people
affected by the floods and
the cyclone.
“Separate areas will be
dedicated for men and
women.”
Rohan Jaduram, Community
Resilience Manager
for Auckland Emergency
Management, conveyed
his appreciation for
the community shelters
that groups such as the
Ethnic Women’s Trust
provide.
“I really want to thank
people who sheltered families
and individuals -
whether its in their homes,
whether its in a community
shelter, some school, or
some early childhood education
shelter. I thank you
so much. You make our job
so much easier, especially
in a response of this scale.”
When asked if the government
will commit additional
funding to support
the cyclone recovery, the
Prime Minister said: “We
will do what we need to do
in order to support New
Zealanders through this.
“Our focus right now is
on the immediate response,
it’s on making sure people
have a roof over their
head, that they have a
meal, that their families
are well cared
for. That’s the
immediate focus.
“The recovery
effort is something
that we
will absolutely
be placing at the front and
centre of the government’s
program over the next few
weeks and months.
“We know that this
won’t be an overnight
recovery, it’s going to take
a while, some people are
going to be displaced from
their homes for an extended
period of time and we
will need to support them
through that.
“Businesses will continue
to feel the tail end of this
for some time and we will
need to support them
through that as well. We’ll
work out in the next few
days and week how best to
do that.”