Auckland, New Zealand: The European Commission (EC) says it will give two million US dollars to the Samoan government to help with the tsunami recovery, reports Radio New Zealand International.

On the day of the tsunami, the European Union made about US$200, 000 available to the Samoan Red Cross and the New Zealand Red Cross for the relief effort.

Roger Moore, the European Commission’s Pacific development director, is in New Zealand for talks on regional cooperation.

He said the EU will also assist with the reconstruction by giving about US$ 2 million to the Samoan government within the next couple of months.

“And then the governments can actually start getting on with buying the materials, and hiring the equipment and paying the people that they need. That way as well of course, the work will be done locally by Samoans and since the tourist industry, I think has been heavily affected, then I imagine employment over the next few months is going to be an important issue.”

Mr Moore said it’s timely the European Commission is also about to start another a 40 million dollar programme giving money to the Samoan government to improve its water supply to cope with rising ocean levels.