Allegations have surfaced suggesting that whale watchers in Vava‘u may have violated Tonga’s prohibition on Sunday activities.
A boat carrying passengers was spotted stopping in the water across from Longomanu on Sunday, 22, before the passengers reportedly descended into the sea.
It has been claimed that these passengers had been watching and swimming with the whales.
Neiafu town officer Vāvā Lapota said he received a complaint about the incident and advised the complainant to report it to the police.
He alleged that the police had been spotted talking to an Asian man at Neiafu wharf.
The police could not be reached for comment.
Lapota told Kaniva News that after receiving the complaint, he went to the wharf and saw about 10 Asian passengers disembarking from a boat.
There was no evidence to indicate that this was the same boat and passengers spotted by the complainant.
Lapota said that there have been numerous unlawful whale-watching activities on Sundays.
“I received complaints from time to time, and I only advised them to go to the police”.
Controversial law
The Tongan constitution states that Sunday, the Sabbath day, Christmas Day and Good Friday are to be “kept holy” and that no business can be conducted “except according to law.”
However, as reported by Kaniva News recently, Prime Minister Hu’akavameiliku had been accused of defending the national airlines, which purportedly violated the Christmas Day trading ban by operating passenger flights.
In that report, we said that the Neiafu town officer had protested at the Vava’u police station after the police arrested his son for illegally swimming in the sea on Christmas Day, the same day that Lulutai Airlines operated.
In 2016, bakers in Tonga appealed to the king for help after the government banned them from selling bread on Sundays.
Despite the appeal, the government went ahead and reinstated the prohibition.
Bakers have been allowed to open on Sundays since 1982, when a cyclone struck Tonga and there was an immediate need to feed the population. After the cyclone, the government did not reinstate the ban.
However, a government announcement at the time of the appeal said that Tonga has been breaching its Sabbath Law by allowing bakeries and restaurants to operate on Sundays.
