ReliefWeb

WELLINGTON, Feb 23, 2005 (Xinhua via COMTEX) -- New Zealand is continuing to arrange for resources to assist the Cook Islands to recover from damages caused by three cyclones in the last two weeks, Aid Minister Marian Hobbs said Wednesday.

"New Zealand received a request to assist on Saturday morning and NZAID, our international aid agency, has since been coordinating the FRANZ (France, Australia and New Zealand) response," Hobbs said in a statement.

"We are not responding to an emergency or humanitarian disaster, " but are assisting the Cook Islands with the clean-up process, she said.

Cyclone Olaf hit the main island of Rarotonga particularly hard on Friday evening and left areas of the island without power, water and telecommunication services.

According to Hobbs, NZAID had approached Telecom NZ and Vector Networks to source telecommunication technicians and linesmen, who are now in Rarotonga to assist with the restoration of services.

Chainsaws and other lighter equipment needed for clean-up have been transported to Rarotonga on commercial flights.

Other heavy equipment, such as cherry-pickers and heavy trucks, is also needed. Due to size of the items and the need to get the equipment to the Cooks in a timely manner, the consignment will be transported on a Royal New Zealand Air Force C-130 Hercules. The flight is scheduled to arrive in Rarotonga on Monday.

New Zealand is contributing up to 750,000 NZ dollars (about 540, 000 US dollars) to the Cook Island's cyclone.

The Cook Islands, with a population of about 19,000, consist of 15 islands scattered over some 2 million square kilometres of the Pacific Ocean.