Niue's PM mourns for wife and storm-battered nation

By BERNARD ORSMAN

The Premier of Niue, Young Vivian, lost his wife last week. Now he is crying for the 1700 inhabitants of his tiny island nation.

Mr Vivian was grieving with family members in Auckland when Cyclone Heta, with winds gusting up to 275km/h, devastated the raised atoll of Niue.

"Things don't look too good at the moment," said Mr Vivian.

"We [the family] were beginning to get back to normal, but with the cyclone on top you are really stretched in a number of ways, emotionally and physically, about your country.

"I have cried for my country.

"There is a dead person. There is an injured person and people are homeless. What they have built up within a few years - like new houses, motels, vanilla and the establishment of a fisheries processing plant - has been destroyed." .

Mr Vivian was returning to Niue early today on a Defence Force Hercules relief flight, and plans to make the return flight tomorrow to attend his wife's funeral in Auckland on Saturday.

Tofuola Vivian died after a long battle with diabetes and cancer.

Mr Vivian said he spoke to Deputy Premier Toke Talagi on Tuesday just before the island closed down telephone communication but had been unable to speak to anyone on the island since Cyclone Heta hit and was relying on reports from New Zealand's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

"I will be relying on a lot of people and my own people here [in New Zealand] to be able to give moral support and some practical help ... not only cash but to come up and hold hands and work together on their families' properties and houses," said Mr Vivian.

At the time of the 2001 census, 20,100 Niueans were living in New Zealand.