WELLINGTON, July 15 (Xinhua) -- A New Zealand-led military force - including troops from China and the United States - has begun building community projects to improve water storage and sanitation in the Pacific island nation of Tonga, the New zealand Defence Force (NZDF) said Friday.
The construction work was part of Exercise Tropic Twilight 2016 in Lifuka and Foa, the two main islands in Tonga's Ha'apai island group, said Lieutenant Colonel Josh Wineera, the NZDF Task Force Commander and Senior National Officer.
Nine 10,000-litre water storage tanks were being installed at churches, the fire station and city hall in Pangai, the administrative capital village of Ha'apai, Wineera said in a statement.
Engineers from His Majesty's Armed Forces Tonga, the New Zealand Army, China's People's Liberation Army and the United States Army were also building a toilet block near the Pangai Ferry Terminal, a high-traffic location.
The international team had fully integrated with NZDF personnel and the projects would make a positive difference to the local community, Wineera said.
Tongan officials were impressed by the industry and enthusiasm of the multi-national task group.
"It's great to see the Chinese, Americans, Australians, New Zealanders and Tongan soldiers working alongside each other," Commander Brisbane Lokotui, the Tongan military liaison officer, said in the statement.
"This contingent is clearly well-led and they have an inclusive and respectful nature about them; they have a good sense of humor too."
Medical personnel from New Zealand and Australia were conducting environmental health tests to assess the risk of communicable diseases to the local population.
New Zealand and Australian environmental health officers were working with Tongan medical staff to teach the locals how to recognize certain species that might carry such diseases as dengue fever or the zika virus.
U.S. Army soldiers were operating a desalination system that provided a supply of potable water to the multi-national task group.
Tropic Twilight is an annual exercise focused on disaster relief operations and runs from July 7 to 29 this year.
The Ha'apai group is made up of 62 islands that are vulnerable to natural disasters and have limited drinking water supplies.
