Prime Minister PÅhiva Tuāiāonetoa has denied claims the Royal Commission report on Popua Park probe was submitted to him and it disappeared from his desk.
The highly anticipated report was intended to inform the king after an investigating into how the late āAkilisi PÅhiva governmentās funding of the recreational park project was spent.
The Prime Minister was responding after New Zealand-Tongan based barrister Nalesoni Tupou claimed the report went missing from Tuāiānoetoaās desk (ākaāiloa ai e lipooti mei he tepile āa e PalÄmiaā)
Tupou claimed the report has yet to be presented to the king.
Tupou alleged on Facebook the report was completed and submitted to the Prime Minister on June 2020. He also claimed the report was hidden. He “swears” that his allegations were true. He said he would release a copy of the report. Kaniva News contacted him regarding his allegations.
Tuāiāonetoa, who had been previously accused of not telling the truth to the media told VPON media today he did not know anything about the report.
He said any questions about it should be directed “to the right place,” apparently, to the Royal Commission.
The Popua Park project
The projectĀ allowed the late āAkilisi PÅhiva government to redevelop the 10-acre swampy site initiated by āAkilisi in 2015.
It included a plan for a golf course which was initiated by late King Tupou IV but was not implemented before he died.
The project was intended to provide a sustainable, clean environment in the area after closing down the Popua landfill, provide a new national recreational park Ā and save and upgrade the traditional pigeon mounts which had significant historical values.
Auditor report
An independent report by the Pacific Engineering Consultant Group (PECG) showed the former government has spent only TOP$648,000Ā on the project.
āIt is evident there is savings,ā the report said.
The āAkilisi government said it saved $2 million in the project.
The PECG report was conducted on June 2018 by three experts including Civil Engineer Sevenitini Toumoua, Suliasi Havea and Semisi Fifita.
Royal Commission
What had been seen as a good initiative for the community and the country as a whole turned into a battlefield for politicians especially āAkilisiās supporters and their critics.
In March 2019 King Tupou VI ordered three petitions attacking the āAkilisiās government to be referred to the Ombudsman. Some of these petitions, submitted by ‘Akilisi’s long standing opponents, raised concerns about the project.
The Tuiāonetoa government said in 2019 a royal commission led by former Justice Charles Cato was investigating how the late āAkilisi governmentās funding of the recreational park project was spent.
It has been two years now the report continues to go unheard.
āAkilisiās supporters believed the PECG report was enough to clear any doubt about the Popua park project spending.
They said the decision by the king to spend a lot of money in setting up the royal commission could outweigh the spending on the park project.
FAKAMATALA FAKATONGA
Kuo āi ai āeni ha tukuaki’i kuo puli e lipooti ia ki hono fakatotoloāi e fakamole ki hono langa āo e Ā Paaka Popua’ mei he tesi ‘o e PalÄmia’. Kuo pehÄ ne āosi maau atu ki he tesi āo Ā PÅhiva Tuāiāonetoaā āa e lipootiā ni āi Sune 2020. PehÄ āe he tukuakiāiā Ā ‘oku te’eki a’u e lipooti ia ki he tuāi. Kuo faka’ikai’i ‘e he palÄmia’ ha’ane ‘ilo pe kaunga ki he lipooti’ ni.Ā Ko e fakatotolo āeni ne kamata he 2019 āe ha komisioni fakatu’i ne tataki āe he fakamaau lahi ko Charles Cato mo ha niāihi loea. Ko e fakamole lahi ki he Komisoni ni āoku āi ai e tui ne totongi mei he Ā pa’anga tukuhau ‘a e kakai’. Ko e lipooti ‘eni ‘oku ‘i ai e nofo ‘amanaki ki ai ‘a e kakai’ ka kuo te’eki ongonga mai.Ā Ko e tukuakiāi āeni mei he loea Tonga āi Nuāu Sila ko Loea Nalesoni Tupou. Ka kuo faka’ikai’i ‘eni ia ‘e he PM ki he mitia Tonga’ āo pehe hala haāane āilo pe kaunga āe taha ki he lipootiā ni. Naāaā ne pehÄ ke āeke ha fehuāi kau ki ai ki he feituāu totonu āa ia mahino ko āene āuhinga ki he komisoniā. Ko e PalÄmiaā ni Ā foki kuo lahi hono tukuakiāi Ā ki he’ene ngaahi fakamatala ‘ikai mo’oni kuo ‘omi ki he mitia’ mo āene feinga ke takihalaāi āa e papilikiā āaki a e ngaahi fakamatala hala, tautefito ki he keisi ko ia āa e ongo Lavulavu mo e ngaahi āisiu kehe pe.
