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