His Majesty’s Prisons in Tonga has signed a contract with Luna’eva & Sons to complete construction of a new female prison, with the facility expected to be finished in May 2027.
The contract was signed on 13 October 2026, and work commenced on 19 October, according to an announcement published on the department’s official Facebook page.
His Majesty’s Prisons said on its Facebook account that the facility would improve infrastructure for the safe custody and welfare of female inmates.
Female prisoners have historically been accommodated in separate sections of Huʻatolitoli Prison.
Funding and Tender
Tonga’s 2024/25 Budget Statement identified an estimated TOP$1.2 million for a female prison facility, with construction expected to begin during the final quarter of the 2023/24 financial year.
A separate parliamentary budget briefing referred to TOP$240,000 for completing construction. His Majesty’s Prisons subsequently advertised a tender for the remaining work in August 2026.
The latest announcement did not disclose the contract value or details of the new prison’s planned capacity and services.
Previous Concerns Over Conditions
The project follows previous concerns about conditions for female prisoners, including shortcomings in maternity care documented in a 2023 Supreme Court judgment and issues raised in earlier US human rights reports.
In its 2023 judgment in Rex v Kapeni Tamoʻua and Others, the Supreme Court recorded an acknowledgement by the Prisons Department that funding was insufficient for proper prenatal and postnatal care. The Court was also informed that facilities for mothers with young children were unavailable and that female prisoners from Vavaʻu had to serve their sentences in Tongatapu.
Earlier US State Department human rights reporting raised concerns about prison overcrowding and the lack of separate accommodation for female inmates requiring psychiatric care.
The reports described conditions at the time and do not establish whether those problems persist.
According to the World Prison Brief, Tonga had 21 female prisoners in 2022, representing approximately 3.8 percent of the prison population. A 2024 regional corrections report estimated that around 20 women were incarcerated.
