Tonga is exploring plans to relocate cemeteries away from towns due to a critical shortage of land, a move that could challenge long-held traditions and spiritual beliefs.
With burial spaces dwindling, officials are weighing options—including centralised burial sites—which would mark a major shift from the current practice of families and villages keeping their dead close.
The proposal may face cultural sensitivities, particularly around Tonga’s deep-rooted beliefs in ancestral connections and the spiritual practice of ngaahi (demonic possession), where spirits are said to react to strangers or those who may appear to cause disturbances.
Kaniva News often reported cemetery vandalism, the latest being earlier this year.
In that report, we stated that vandals damaged a cemetery in the village of Fua’amotu because they believed the dead had possessed their relative.
Former Prime Minister Huʻakavameiliku stated that his constituency, Tongatapu 3, has no more space for additional graves, as existing graveyards are full.
He reminded Parliament that the previous Minister of Lands had worked on this issue.
He explained that the current land structure leaves settlement areas densely packed, with little available space.
He described people struggling to find burial plots for their deceased loved ones as “a pitiful situation.”
He revealed plans to establish a new cemetery at Nualei, roughly a 20-minute from Tongatapu 3 in Nukuʻalofa.
He noted that there is an ancestral connection between Nualei and Tongatapu 3.
In response, Deputy Prime Minister Taniela Fusimālohi said the government was working on the issue.
He stated that tax allotments and noble estates are under consideration, and if feasible, the government would compensate the owners for their land by converting it into graveyards.
