Fiji’s door is always open to the Indonesian military, says Brigadier-General Mohammed Aziz.
The Republic of the Fiji Military Forces deputy Commander made the remarks when he bid farewell to the Indonesian Defence Force personnel at Queen Victoria School, Matavucou, Tailevu, yesterday.
He said no words could be found to describe their gratitude towards the Indonesian military for the tremendous work they had done to reconstruct the cyclone devastated school.
The farewell was attended by officials of the Indonesian embassy in Suva, senior military staff, navy and army personnel.
Brigadier-General Aziz reminded the 100 military contingent that the RFMF were their family.
“This is your new home and the door will always be open for you.
“We want to show our deepest appreciation for the great job you had done in reconstruction of Queen Victoria School after the devastation of Tropical Cyclone Winston,” he said.
Brigadier- General Aziz said the Indonesian military had left a legacy at the prominent all boys school in Fiji and one which would go down in Fiji’s history.
“I had faith in our military brothers that they will carry out a tremendous job and today they’ve shown that, we appreciate the effort you all have made in trying to rebuild the school,” he said.
Indonesia’s Major Abdillah Arif said they had been working day in, day out trying to meet the deadline expected of them to complete rebuilding works.
He said they had constructed a state of the art facility for the students of QVS.
“It is a privilege to also work with the RFMF engineers and I want to thank my men for completing the work on time and we hope that this will boost the education sector in Fiji.
“There were challenges that we face along the way especially the shortage of building materials but we tried our best to finish our work on time,” Major Arif said.
He said they would miss the Fijian hospitality when they leave for Indonesia.
“The Fijian people are unique in their own way and we really enjoyed their hospitality, we hope to come to Fiji someday,” Major Arif said.
The first batch of Indonesians will leave on Monday and the rest will leave on Tuesday.
Edited Maraia Vula