The inhabitants of the Tonga Islands showed Saturday determined to rebuild their country devastated last week by a powerful eruption and a tsunami.
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This double event affected more than 80% of the approximately 100,000 inhabitants of this archipelago, according to the United Nations.
Tongan journalist Marian Kupu said that the majority of the population intends to stay on the archipelago and is already working to repair the immense damage.
“We want to stay here, in our country, because that is what constitutes our identity as Tongans. We want to rebuild our country, unite and move forward,” Marian Kupu told AFP.
The water supplies of tens of thousands of people could be contaminated by ash from the volcano or salt water from the ensuing tsunami, crops have been destroyed and at least two villages have been totally wiped out.
Humanitarian aid began arriving on Thursday after the archipelago’s main airstrip was finally cleared of the thick layer of ash that covered it.
According to estimates, during the eruption, about a km3 of material was propelled, and experts believe that the Hunga-Tonga-Hunga-Ha’apai will remain active “for weeks or even months”.
“The people of Tonga are going to need a lot of support to deal with a disaster of such magnitude,” said Sione Hufanga, the United Nations aid coordinator in Tonga. “They remain overwhelmed by the extent of the damage.”
This archipelago is the third country in the world most vulnerable to natural disasters, according to the report on global risks. But despite these threats, the journalist says most Tongans want to stay in their country.
“It’s this feeling of pride that comes through here, we don’t want to leave the country where we were born and where we grew up,” she explains.
A survivor from the island of Atata, which was wiped out by the tsunami, told her he intended to return to his island, she added. “He explained that he wanted to go back there because his parents are buried there, he was born there and that’s where his life is.” “He wants the government or anyone else to help rebuild his little island so he can go back,” she said.