The government of Tonga has corrected comments made last week by its spokesman that the World Bank was to blame for delays in the school rebuilding project.
Tupou High School at Vaololoa in Nuku'alofa after Cyclone Gita Photo: Facebook / Maui Tekelangi
A number of schools on Tongatapu, badly battered by Cyclone Gita in February last year, are still waiting on repairs to be done.
Government spokesman, Lopeti Senituli, told RNZ Pacific last week that the delays were not the fault of the government but the World Bank and other multilateral agencies.
Now the government, in a statement, said the funds for school reconstruction are administered by the government, in accordance with World Bank policies.
Funding of approximately $US13.81 million is available for the rebuild of 30 schools.
It apologised for the delay and says the plan is to begin reconstruction by end of this month to build more resilient, better schools for the future.
