The minister of police, Piveni Piukala, said he had declined the Air Terminal Services (ATS) boss’s request to grant a permit for an aircraft to land in Tonga on Sunday.
Mr Piukala made the move in response to his growing concern over the escalating trafficking of illicit drugs across the kingdom’s borders.
The Minister said he received the request through the Acting Commissioner of Police to allow the medivac aircraft to airlift two alleged tourist patients who had been in an emergency state in Tonga on Sunday, 2.
He claimed the request had been originated from the ATS boss Paul Karalus.
Kaniva News contacted Mr Karalus for comment.
Mr Piukala said that, upon further inquiry, he felt that the request may not have been intended for medical evacuation purposes, as initially claimed.
He said he learned from the Minister of Health that the Ministry had not been informed of patients requiring emergency airlift transport to overseas facilities.
Mr Piukala said the Minister of Health claimed the tourists had been discharged from the hospital a day after their admission and were residing in a motel.
Suspicious
Mr Piukala said he became even more suspicious after learning that the air ambulance had not arrived the following Monday.
The Minister also questioned the procedure and wanted to know why such a request came from ATS, not the Ministry of Health.
He said he had contacted the Acting Commissioner of Police and informed them that he had declined the request because there was no ” life-threatening” case.
Mr Piukala said he had been concerned regarding the “timing of the request”, which had been made amidst the ongoing drug trafficking crisis impacting the country, he told Katalina Tohi of Broadcomm 87.5FM.
The news comes after the Minister recently said he had received photographs of ships allegedly lowering their cranes into the seas in Vava’u, implying that that may be one of the ways used by drug traffickers.
The Minister announced last week that new initiatives have been implemented to enhance border security in order to combat drug trafficking.
ATS
ATS is a local Tongan company and one of only two in the Pacific that has been approved to conduct Ground Service Provider (GSP) operations at airports. The other company, also named ATS, is based in Fiji.
ATS Tonga shareholders are EM Jones Group, TETA Tours, and Pacific Forum Line. These companies have been ground handlers since 2004, when the Government mandated the establishment of a single GSP to enhance the security of international services at Fua’amotu Airport and Lupepau’u Airport.
ATS with 20 years of service to Tonga’s aviation has established ground handling contracts with all international carriers operating flights into Tonga. These carriers are required to utilize ISAGO-registered Ground Service Providers (GSPs) wherever such services are available.
Sunday law
Tonga prohibits any business activities and trading on Sunday.
However, there are exceptions including emergencies.
The Minister of Police, with the approval of the Cabinet Minister, has the authority to permit an individual or company to conduct business operations on Sunday, provided that they present valid and justifiable reasons for such a request.
