Homeless Fijians struggle amid materials delay

05:04 am on 8 September 2016

Delays in sending New Zealand timber to Fiji means remote islanders are turning to collecting fallen wood in forests to build temporary homes.

The category five Cyclone Winston struck in February, killing 44 people and destroying over 30,000 homes, schools and other infrastructure, to the order of $US1.4 billion.

Fiji has relaxed its usually high import tariffs to allow foreign companies to respond to huge timber orders, but it can't get there quickly enough before the next cyclone season.

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