Aitutaki Cyclone Appeal audit completed

The audit of the Aitutaki Cyclone Appeal funds is ready and is due to be collected from the Audit Office Wednesday (today) 14 April. This is according to the chairman of the ACA fundraising committee, George George.
The chairman said now that the funds had been accounted for and verified in the audit, the next step is for the ACA committee to sit down and discuss some options to be put on the table to the community who donated the funds in the first instance. When asked to comment on hearsay that some people have already left Aitutaki, George said he would be very concerned if that were true and that it was important to let them know that ‘help is on the way’ and for them not despair
At the moment the committee are relying on information from people who have visited the island as to the kind of assistance needed which is not already being provided by government.
One of the key people they will be dealing with is Tai Herman which right from the start is the designated person they will be dealing with in his official capacity as Island Mayor.
The chairman said they were waiting to hear from the Mayor who is off the island but expected back within the next day or so – ‘the sooner the better’ in order to sit down to sort out the best options to be put forward.
They have also dealt with Garth Henderson from Aid Management who is also part of the official Taskforce as to several options that he had come up to address issues that he had observed on the island.
Other sources of information include the official survey in the Cyclone Pat Aitutaki Recovery and Reconstruction Plan carried out under the auspices of Office of the Prime Minister but carried out under the supervision of MOIP engineers. Others in the (government) ‘Recovery Committee’ include: reps from EMCI, Aid Management, Internal Affairs; MFEM, UNDP, Aitutaki Island Administration and Red Cross Cook Islands.
George said the committee has ‘no intention of slowing the process’ but needed to consult with the Mayor as he would know the kind of needs that the people in Aitutaki have, how the people are living and so on. This is why it is important to hear from the Mayor before taking the matter back to the community for the final say as they donated the funds and would want to know ‘how we are going to spend their money’ (wisely) in aid of the Aitutaki community.

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