Hon Murray McCully

Minister of Foreign Affairs

14 August 2015

NZ engineering team to help with Nepal rebuild

Foreign Minister Murray McCully today announced that New Zealand has sent a team of 15 earthquake engineers to Nepal to assist with the rebuild following the massive quakes which hit the country earlier this year.

“The specialist engineers departed for Nepal this week and will remain there until November,” Mr McCully says

“They will provide Nepal’s Government with technical support in seismic assessment, design of repair and retro-fit solutions, barricading, shoring, temporary works, deconstruction and demolition.

“The cost of the deployment is $1 million and this support builds on the $2 million New Zealand provided in the immediate aftermath of the quakes, which included a smaller deployment of engineers.

“The April quake, and the second one on 12 May, jointly killed nearly 9,000 people and caused widespread damage in and around the Kathmandu Valley.

“New Zealanders feel a close connection to Nepal and our on-going support for the rebuild reflects this,” Mr McCully says.

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