Rosamond Bing has allegedly resigned as chief executive of the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources in the wake of complaints against her to the Public Service Commission (PSC).
Rosamond C. Bing. Photo/Melemanu Bloomfield (Facebook)
Her resignation was expected to take effect this Friday 18, a reliable source told Kaniva News.
The source claimed Bing was handed a formal warning by the PSC.
It said the PSC, however, decided to take no further action on the complaints due to lack of evidence.
The source also claimed Bing declared her resignation after further arguments with senior officers in the Ministry.
Kaniva News contacted Bing for comment.
The source said the Minister has vowed to reform the Ministry after several claims had been made against it including the dramatic jump in the number of land court cases in the last 10 years.
It has been claimed that there were 173 land court cases which involved the Ministry during this period compared to 19 cases only in the previous same period.
The Ministry lost millions in land lawsuit costs and there appears to be a breach of its annual reporting procedure.
Documents seen by Kaniva showed there were concerns after the Ministry allegedly paid $300,000 to rent an office but the Ministry was later blocked from occupying it after a warning letter from a lawyer.
Detectives in Tonga have launched a new investigation after a house fire in Vava’u’s Neiafu town claimed a woman’s life.
Deputy Police Commissioner Tevita Vailea said Police from Tongatapu were expected to arrive in Vava’u this week to conduct another investigation after concerns raised with them by the family of the victim, Tu’imala Uinisē Moala.
Deputy Commissioner Tevita Vailea
The Tongan Police previously said an inquest determined that the 46-year-old woman died from smoke inhalation and severe burning in a house fire at Neiafu.
Her body was laid to rest Wednesday last week, a day after her death.
Police said Moala and her husband were in the third floor of the three-storey building before the husband escaped the inferno by jumping from the rooftop.
In a statement Police said: “At around midnight on Monday, 7 November, they went to bed on the third floor of the house only to be awakened by a loud cracking sound from downstairs. When they opened their bedroom door, the flames had already engulfed the building, leaving them no way out but to tear down another door and climb to the rooftop. From the rooftop, they tried and jumped to the deck on the second floor.”
“In trying to escape the extreme flames, the husband held his wife’s hand so that they could jump down to the ground, but she let go of his hand because she was too terrified to jump. When the husband reached the ground, he called out for help and a male neighbour rushed over with a ladder but unfortunately, it was too short to reach the second floor. Both the husband and the male neighbour urged her to jump, and they would catch her, but she refused as she was confused, panicked, and terrified, and in the end, the fire caught up with her.”
Moala’s family said that livestreamed videos taken at the scene and shared to Facebook on the day of Moala’s death held some key information about what they thought would explain more about the cause of her death.
A young brother of Moala reportedly said on Facebook they were conducting their own independent investigation and have contacted New Zealand police.
As Kaniva News reported last week, Moala was born in New Zealand.
“The enquiry is now in the hands of a trusted NZ Senior Detective, who understands the complexities of Tonga’s systems and able to escalate the matter with the proper NZ Authorities in Tonga”, according to a media release posted to Facebook last week by the family.
It said the family have launched their own enquiries with the Tonga Police to acquire the information that prompted their official report and conclusions.
“We are continuing to follow this up and we won’t stop until we get to the bottom of this.
“Thank you to everyone that has shared information with us thus far, you are all greatly appreciated. Malo aupito!
“Our Sister deserves a thorough investigation and we are demanding nothing less than the whole Truth”.
The Ministry of Health has denied rumours circulated on social media that doctors in Tonga went on strike over their delayed overtime payments.
The Minister of Health and the Health Chief Executive have dismissed any walk out to Kaniva News saying the doctors had been disappointed after they did not receive their overtime payments as expected.
Dr Siale ‘Akau’ola
They said the delays had been due to the Public Service Commission (PSC) and the Treasury wanting to address an issue regarding the Ministry’s overtime pay policy.
They said the PSC and Treasury had resolved the issue and the doctors are expected to receive their overtime payments for August and September this week.
The chief executive Dr Siale ‘Akau’ola has described the issue as a misunderstanding arising during interpretations of two clauses of the policy.
The policy was created in response to requirements by Development Partners who are providing the budget support to supplement the Ministry’s salaries.
Dr ‘Akau’ola said a clause in the policy states that doctors only have a limited overtime working hours of four a day.
“It was designed to make sure the budget is being spent wisely”, Dr ‘Akau’ola said in Tongan.
However, another clause of the policy says an exception was made in times of emergency. This meant, doctors could still be paid an overtime payment rate if they worked more than four hours.
Dr ‘Akau’ola said the interpretation of the two clauses by the authorities involved had delayed paying out of the doctors’ payments.
He said the issue had been resolved and the policy was upgraded so that this it could not affect the doctors in the future.
He said the doctors had been working long hours during the Covid 19 pandemic to meet the demand for medical helps.
Dr ‘Akau’ola said his doctors did not go on strike and the situation had been due largely to the consequences of the coronavirus cases.
There were 4282 daily Covid-19 cases reported today, breaking a plateau that has lasted about three weeks.
The number was 9.4 percent higher than the previous Tuesday, usually the highest day of the week because it captured some slow weekend reporting.
The last time cases were in the 4000s was 17 August, as the country came down from the major winter wave.
Cases began to increase again in mid-October, before hitting the plateau.
The Ministry of Health said it expected the current infection wave to keep rising but could not accurately predict when that would happen and how big it would be.
Experts have said that was because it was unclear how the several new variants would play out, and what the impact of immunity from previous infections will be.
It said BQ 1.1 was increasing faster than the previous dominant variant BA.5 and the new arrival XBB is showing some evidence of being able to evade people’s immunity but more evidence was needed.
Wastewater testing suggests about three quarters of all cases are being reported.
EDITOR’S NOTE:This commentary was edited to reflect the fact that the response from the Deputy Clerk was meant to say that the Parliament using the circular was a normal means of communication.
COMMENTARY: It is time for the practice of using circulars to make decisions in Parliament was reviewed.
Circulars should only be used on agendas that are urgent.
They should not be used on important issues such as pay rises for Parliamentarians.
Such issues should be properly debated in the House so that they can be recorded in the minutes for the public to read and also broadcast for people to listen.
As Kaniva News reported yesterday, the government’s use of a circular to canvas MPs’ views on a pay rise has been called into question.
However, the Legislative Assembly’s Deputy Clerk, Dr Sione Vikilani, said the circular was a normal means of communication approved by the House and any information sent through it was legal.
In Tongan he said: “Ko e tohi ‘avetakai ko e founga ngāue pe ‘oku ‘ataa ke ngaue’aki pea ‘oku ‘ikai ke ta’efakalao ha tu’utu’uni ‘i hono fakahoko ‘i he founga koia”.
Dr Vikilani did not respond to a question asking why a circular was used to ballot the pay hike and not a face-to-face voting in the House.
In 2018 Tonga’s former Prime Minister, the late ‘Akilisi Pōhiva, warned that using circulars in Parliament was open to abuse.
Speaking to Kaniva News, Pōhiva said the use of circulars was normal but did not allow for discussion.
MPs, especially the Opposition, could not debate whatever agenda was being circulated.
He said that traditionally Speakers and the Noble’s representatives, who were mostly the majority in the House, used it to ballot issues they wanted to be decided in their favour.
The late Prime Minister’s comments were made during an interview in 2018 about the decision to approve an invitation from the Tonga Rugby League for a Parliament delegation to attend a match.
The decision was adopted through a circular, by collective resolution of Parliament.
Prime Minister Pōhiva’s concerns are just as relevant today as they were four years ago.
Debates and voting in the House must be open so that all citizens can see how their MPs voted and debate can be held in public.
This was illustrated in our story yesterday when Dr Vikilani would not say how MPs voted on the circular.
A Parliament with secrets is not truly democratic.
New Zealanders are being warned fraud cases are on the rise as Fraud Awareness Week begins.
Financial Services Complaints which is a financial dispute resolution service said consumers needed to be vigilant about fraud, following a noticeable increase in complaints around financial scams over the past year.
“From fraudulent transactions on travel cards, to merchants losing money when a consumer asked for a chargeback after receiving goods, we have seen a wide range of sophisticated incidents of fraud this year,” chief executive Susan Taylor said.
One of the most notable areas they were seeing an increase in was in fraudulent investments, including “bitcoin’ scams” she said.
Here people were enticed into investing with what appeared to be a reputable company only to lose their money “and sometimes quite substantial amounts of money”, Taylor said.
In one case an investor lost $50,000 after scammers replicated the website of a reputable investment company, while another was scammed $13,000 while using a credit card to purchase bitcoin.
“How these frauds often work is that you invest a little bit of money and you do see a positive return in your account,” Susan Taylor said.
“And then you’re enticed into sending more money – so they really set you up.
“And then when you send the second lot of money, that’s usually then when all the money disappears.”
To protect themselves against scammers, she said people should make sure they do their homework.
“Don’t be rushed into making an investment, particularly with money that you can’t afford to lose,” Taylor said.
“If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.”
Taylor said it was a common misconception that credit card companies would refund people if they were scammed.
“The circumstances in which consumers can recover funds spent on a credit card are limited. Consumers shouldn’t rely on being able to get a refund in place of carefully considering the trustworthiness of who they deal with online.”
Usually, by the time the fraud was discovered it was too late to claw the money back, Taylor said.
“If you’ve authorised the payment, the money has gone and the fraudster has withdrawn the money at their end.”
COMMENTARY: Tonga is facing a financial crisis, with New Zealand and Australia propping up the kingdom’s budget.
The two donors are paying for more than 50 percent of the budget.
Tonga is still recovering from the effects of Covid-19 and the loss of income from tourism caused by Covid-19, as well as the aftermath of the Hunga Tonga Hunga-Ha’apai volcanic eruption and tsunami.
It has endured nine percent inflation, is paying more than NZ$40 million in fuel costs compared with last year and is about to start paying back China for its unsecured loan at a rate of NZ$28 million a year. The International Monetary Fund says Tonga’s overall risk of debt distress remains high.
Many Tongans are facing real economic hardship.
Despite this, Parliament decided to go ahead and give itself a pay rise using a controversial circular system that hid the identities of those who had voted for the backdated pay increase.
It was a slap in the face for voters and a sign that once again the Tongan government is completely oblivious as to how its actions appear to the people who elect them.
New Zealand pay cut
Instead of putting more money in their pockets, the Tongan government should have taken a leaf from New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.
When New Zealand was forced into a lockdown to deal with the emergence of the Covid-19 virus in 2020, thousands of people lost their jobs or lost income. In response, Ardern formulated a common sense response.
In April of that year Ardern announced that she and other ministers would take a 20% pay cut lasting six months to show solidarity with those affected by the coronavirus outbreak.
She said it was important for the government’s highest paid politicians to show “leadership and solidarity” with workers on the frontline and those who had lost their livelihoods.
“If there was ever a time to close the gap between groups of people across New Zealand in different positions, it is now,” the Prime Minister said.
Ardern and the New Zealand government showed how a government should behave in a financial crisis by cutting their pay, not increasing it.
It is a pity Prime Minister Hu’akavameiliku did not follow their example.
Pastor ‘Aipolo
Our story last week about Pastor ‘Aipolo’s criticism of the MPs’ pay rise have generated overwhelmingly positive feedback from our readers.
Most people lauded Pastor ‘Aipolo, saying it was the responsibility of religious leaders to look after their sheep and to criticise the Parliament’s pay rise at a time when the cost of living and inflation was high.
They said this was a good application of what Jesus said in the Bible in the parable of the Good Samaritan.
Opposition to the pastor’s comments came mostly from people who opposed the Democrats. They claimed the pay rise was legal and therefore justified. However, the Democrats said common sense was more important than following the law as laws were made by people. They said Tongan laws were amended from time to time because some of those laws were unjust.
The family of Tu’imala Uinisē Moala who died in a tragic house fire in Tonga’s Vava’u island has launched an independent investigation after her death.
Tu’imala Uinsē Moala (Left) with her namesake Tonga’s well-known solo singer and composer Tu’imala Kaho. Photo/Supplied
The family believe Moala’s New Zealand citizenship should give New Zealand Police a chance to mediate with Tongan authorities in support of their inquiries to confirm the cause of her death.
The Tongan Police said an inquest determined that the 46-year-old woman died from smoke inhalation and severe burning in a house fire at Neiafu.
Police said Moala and her husband were in the third floor of the three-storey building before the husband escaped the inferno by jumping from the rooftop.
In a statement Police said: “At around midnight on Monday, 7 November, they went to bed on the third floor of the house only to be awakened by a loud cracking sound from downstairs. When they opened their bedroom door, the flames had already engulfed the building, leaving them no way out but to tear down another door and climb to the rooftop. From the rooftop, they tried and jumped to the deck on the second floor.”
“In trying to escape the extreme flames, the husband held his wife’s hand so that they could jump down to the ground, but she let go of his hand because she was too terrified to jump. When the husband reached the ground, he called out for help and a male neighbour rushed over with a ladder but unfortunately, it was too short to reach the second floor. Both the husband and the male neighbour urged her to jump, and they would catch her, but she refused as she was confused, panicked, and terrified, and in the end, the fire caught up with her.”
Moala’s family said that livestreamed videos taken at the scene and shared to Facebook on the day of Moala’s death hold some key information about what they thought would explain more about the cause of her death.
A young brother of Moala has confirmed on Facebook they were conducting their own private investigation and have contacted New Zealand police.
“On Tuesday 8th November 2022 my Wife Hainoame Fulivai and I launched an enquiry with the New Zealand Police regarding our options for the tragic death of our Sister Tu’imala Uinise Paluvava’u Pauline Fulivai, as she’s a NZ Citizen by birth,” the post read.
“The enquiry is now in the hands of a trusted NZ Senior Detective, who understands the complexities of Tonga’s systems and able to escalate the matter with the proper NZ Authorities in Tonga”.
It said the family have launched their own enquiries with the Tonga Police to acquire the information that prompted their official report and conclusions.
“We are continuing to follow this up and we won’t stop until we get to the bottom of this!!
Thank you to everyone that has shared information with us thus far, you are all greatly appreciated. Malo aupito!
“Our Sister deserves a thorough investigation and we are demanding nothing less than the whole Truth.
“Miss you Big Sis, wish I was there to run through the fire to save you!!”
A 7.9 earthquake hit Tonga on Friday, triggering a tsunami warning and an immediate evacuation order from the government.
Tonga Meteorological Services initially asked locals to flee to high ground following the earthquake which originated near Vava’u’s capital town Neiafu.
It later said the marine tsunami warning issued earlier for the entire kingdom has now been cancelled.
“Based on tide gauge observation in Tonga, a tsunami wave of 10 centimeters was recorded in Neiafu, Vava’u, 6 centimeters in Niuatoputapu and 5 centimeters recorded in Nuku’alofa tide gauge at 1 a.m. this morning,” the government declared in its latest statement.
Hundreds were evacuated from some coastal areas of Tongatapu. There were reports of traffic gridlock as people tried to reach higher ground.
Reports of the earthquake being strongly felt throughout the kingdom had been shared on Facebook.
The US Geological Survey said the quake was 24.8km deep, 211km from the capital Nuku’alofa and east of south-east of Neiafu.
It comes after geologists in Tonga said recently they were closely monitoring the Fonualei volcano for signs of a major eruption. The volcano is about 350km from Nuku’alofa and 78km from Neiafu
Today’s earthquake and tsunami warnings come 10 months after an atmospheric shockwave caused by the Hunga Tonga – Hunga Ha’apai volcanic eruption was felt as far away as the UK. The tidal wave caused devastation in Tonga and killed people as far away as South America.
The family of the woman who died in a house fire in Vava’u believed it was her who was screaming for help in a livestreamed video which was widely shared on Facebook this week.
Police said Tu’imala Uinisē Moala, 46, “died from smoke inhalation and very severe burning” after a house fire at Neiafu on Tuesday.
Her husband and neighbours tried to rescue Moala but did not reach her in time.
Police said the victim was with her husband in the three-storey building before realising the blaze had engulfed the house.
They said the husband managed to escape while his wife was trapped by the fire.
The Police statement came after several horrifying videos taken at the scene of the house fire emerged online to the horror of locals and online Tongan international community.
One video that was originally posted to Facebook after the fire shows a woman could be heard screaming for help as she shouted at what appears to be her husband.
Kaniva News chooses not to publish the details and the rest of what the woman was yelling out while struggling in the blaze since we could not be able to verify the authenticity of the video.
The family and kāinga of the victim took what they heard from the video seriously and demanded answers.
Limapō Hopoate, a cousin of the deceased said the videos tell a lot of stories about Moala’s cause of death.
“Since her death I was overwhelmed and find myself in a very stressful situation”, Hopoate, who is a first cousin of the victim’s mother, told Kaniva News.
“Things are still very raw and the family are dealing with their own emotion at this confusing times”.
She compared the family’s experience to a “tsunami” which struck before people attempted to escape and tried to protect each other.
“At the same time we are trying to piece together the many fragments of info to establish a clear picture of what had happened”, she said.
Moala’s body was laid to rest on Wednesday 9.
Police said they were aware of some misinformation being shared on Facebook.
