Emergency Coordination Centre

New centre in Vava'u hopes to improve Tongan disaster response

King Tupou VI and Queen Nanasipau'u opened the over 800-thousand dollar facility on Wednesday.

Matangi Tonga reported the centre aimed to strengthen resilience to disasters and climate change, by improving forecasting and response capacity.

Prime Minister Pohiva Tu'i'onetoa said as the country was highly vulnerable to natural disasters it was important to be prepared.

The two-storey centre was also equipped with four 25,000-litre water tanks and a generator for use during such events.