A man was rushed to hospital this morning after a two-car crash on Hala Loto road near Lomaiviti.
An eyewitness said he was on his way to drop off his nephew at Tonga College when he was flagged down by onlookers and asking to take the man to hospital.
He claimed the victim was seriously injured.
He said the two vehicles suffered extensive damages.
Asked of the other vehicle’s passengers and driver the eyewitness said he did not have time to check on them.
Medical staff, civil servants, RSE workers and Tongans who have been in New Zealand for medical treatment will be given priority on the first repatriation flight from Auckland on August 4.
Health CEO Dr Siale ‘Akau’ola said passengers would include doctors, nurses, police, soldiers, public servants including one Government CEO, who all remain on the government pay roll.
They were being given priority because they were needed in Tonga to support the repatriation work.
Seasonal workers who are experiencing social issues and stranded travelers would also be included.
Tongans with health problems who had been treated in New Zealand were also considered.
The names of the passengers chosen for next Tuesday’s flight was expected to be released today.
The Taliai military camp will house passengers from the New Zealand flight.
Dr ‘Akau’ola said the government’s priority was to keep Tonga free of Covid-19.
No transmission
This meant bringing people back from countries where there was no community transmission.
“We need our people to understand this,” he said.
He said there were Tongans being treated in India who needed to be returned, but this would need to be looked at carefully.
“People who were brought back from India to Fiji were the ones with the virus, so it is an important area to look at,” he said.
Meanwhile, passengers from the first repatriation flight from Fiji are expected to end their quarantine on August 2.
About 2000 Tongans have registered online to be flown home.
The main points
A yacht from Tahiti has been ordered to leave Vava’u by Friday and it may leave under navy escort.
The yacht, the Nadine, was on its way to Fiji and entered Tongan waters without permission.
It is now anchored at sea at Vava’u’s Puatalefusi wharf.
Neiafu Town Officer Vāvā Lapota told Kaniva News this afternoon the yacht’s arrival on Sunday came as a surprise.
A family of five, a couple with three children, is on the boat. They told Vava’u authorities the yacht experienced electrical problems after bad weather and decided to put into Vava’u.
Lapota said the governor decided to allow them to stay in Vava’u until the electrical problem was resolved.
They were told they have to leave by this Friday. There was a plan to bring the Army’s patrol boats to escort the Nadine out of Tongan waters.
Lapota said the yacht has been strictly monitored by the Vava’u authorities and the passengers had been ordered to stay onboard. The Vava’u community had also been alerted about the yacht’s presence.
Yachts are allowed to apply for entry into Fiji under the Blue Lane programme.
Port Denarau Marina has received more than 100 applications from yachts and superyacht owners wanting to travel to Fiji.
The Fijian Government said the borders would continue to be heavily scrutinised.
Yachts would be allowed in under strict conditions and approval was not automatic.
A military authority has confirmed that a new recruit died at Taliai Military Camp in Fua’amotu airport this week.
Kaniva understands the death is a suspected suicide. Talaki online, a Tongan language news web page alleged the officer was discovered hanging from a tree.
The paper identified the deceased as Mengi Katea Tahaafe.
Camp manager Lieutenant Colonel Lamipeti Mapakaitolo said the soldier died on Monday, according to Talaki.
Mapakaitolo said an investigation was underway to determine the cause of death.
Members of the Democratic (PTOA) movement in New Zealand and Australia have signalled a fight back against the loss of any more democratic reforms.
And they warn that the loss of reforms could even include the right for Parliamentarians to vote for the Prime Minister.
Former Education Inspector at Tonga’s Ministry of Education Mosese Tekiteki, who lives in Auckland, told Kaniva News people were worried that the Tu‘i‘onetoa government could take away more of the powers that were relinquished to the people in the 2010 political reforms.
The concerns arose after the government passed a law recently to return the power to elect and appoint the Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to the king.
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There have also been concerns about the failure to pass the six bills the Late ‘Akilisi Pōhiva government wanted to push through to complete the transfer of political power from the king to Parliament.
As Kaniva News reported at the time, Hon Siaosi Pōhiva said the abandonment of the bills mean the kingdom had been left without a fully working system of government accountability.
Tekiteki, who is a member of the PTOA Aotearoa Movement, described the actions of the Tu‘i‘onetoa government as “daylight robbery.”
He said he and the movement were planning an online campaign to challenge any further move by the government to remove any further powers.
He also blasted the PTOA MPs who voted to support the government to return the power to elect and appoint the Secretary for Foreign Affairs to the king.
“I do not believe in them,” he said.
As Kaniva News reported earlier, Hon. Siaosi, condemned the vote.
He said the action of his Party MPs was disappointing (“fakamamahi.”)
Hon. Siaosi said the 2010 Political Reform was meant to ensure all executive powers were brought from the king to the people through the executive government.
Meanwhile, Sydney-based Democrat Activist Tevita Latapu told Kaniva News the Tu‘i‘onetoa government would be encouraged if Tongans did not take action.
“For me this was a backward move by the government,” Latapu said.
“It could trigger an upheaval and a small fire that could become bigger in the future.”
Latapu, who is a former officer of a New Zealand Tongan Society for Political Reforms in Tonga, warned the right of Members of the House to choose the Prime Minister could be lost.
“If people take this lightly without addressing it with care, it would encourage the government to continue making laws to return all the powers the king had relinquished to the people, like the power to elect the Prime Minister,” he said.
The main points
The Supreme Court has sentenced a man to 18 months in prison for serious sexual assault.
The man pleaded guilty before Judge Niu on June 2 to one charge of serious indecent assault and one of unlawful imprisonment.
The man, 66, had no prior criminal convictions.
Judge Niu, presiding, told the court the man abused his position of trust by assaulting the girl.
The prosecution told the court the girl was still haunted by the assault.
“The girl has suffered and will continue to suffer from the act which you have committed upon her,” Judge Niu said.
“All your good deeds in your guilty plea and your remorse, all pale and fade away.”
The judge said the girl felt a prison sentence was the least punishment that would give her a sense of justice.
On the sexual assault charge, the man was sentenced to two years in jail, with the last six months suspended for one year subject to the condition that he did do not commit any offence punishable by imprisonment during that one year.
He was convicted and discharged on the count of unlawful imprisonment.
Judge Niu ordered that any details that could identify the girl be suppressed.
The Land Court has declared that the grant of a tax allotment was illegally cancelled and ordered the Minister to re-instate the land immediately.
Schumway Mataele claimed that a tax allotment, Lot 92 in the estate of the Crown Prince Tupouto’a at ‘Utulau had lawfully been granted to him by the Minister of Lands in 2016.
Mataele said the Minister then unlawfully granted it to ‘Uluaki-o Vaiola Manu.
Mataele told the court he was the second eldest of the legitimate sons of one named Malakai Tokuolava Mataele but commonly called Hameti Mataele. Because the eldest son, Peni, had been taken and fostered by Hawaiians in Hawai’i, he was then the heir to Hameti Mataele’s land.
He said that Hameti Mataele made him the heir by giving him the land which had been gifted to him by the then Crown Prince Tupouto’a at his estate of ‘Utulau. He said that he moved to the United States in 1984, but after Hameti died he came to Tonga to register the land in his name in 2015.
Manu told the court the tax allotment had been given to him by the estateholder in 1971 and that he had been cultivating it as his tax allotment until he applied for grant of it, with the consent of the estateholder in 2018. He said the Minister of Lands lawfully granted it to him and issued to him his deed of grant.
The Registrar of Lands, Semisi Moala, said that in August 2012, they received a letter from Hameti Mataele stating that Crown Prince Tupouto’a had told his matapule, To’a Malikini, to go with him and survey his allotment and to have it in his name, and that he wanted that allotment to be given to his son, the plaintiff.
On September 30, 2016, the Minister directed that a deed of grant of the plaintiff be prepared for Lot 92.
However, he said that later the deed of grant was found to have not been signed by the Minister. The deed had two lines running diagonally across it with the word “cancel” written in between the two lines, signed by the chief draftsman, Sione Leki, and dated February 7, 2017.
He said that there was no Ministerial direction given for that cancellation.
Judge Niu said the key issue was whether the land under dispute was being farmed at the time of the application. Manu claimed he was growing manioke on it.
However, the judge found the evidence showed the land as not being used.
He said the cancellation of the granting of the land was unlawful because only the Land court had the right to take this action. It was also a breach of natural justice.
Judge Niu ordered that the Minister of Lands cancel the deed of grant in the name of ‘Uluaki-o Vaiola Manu and issue a new deed of grant to replace the cancelled deed of grant of the plaintiff, Schumway Mataele, and to have it registered.
He ordered the Minister to pay Mataele’s costs.
David Fifita has signed a three year contract with the Gold Coast Titans worth more than Aus$3m.
Fifita, who is of Tongan descent on his father’s side, has been playing second row with the Brisbane Broncos.
Fifita made his NRL debut for the Broncos against the Canberra Raiders in 2018.
He is a cousin of Tongan and Australian international Andrew Fifita.
In 2019 he played for Queensland in the State of Origin series.
David Fifita has been out of action this season with a knee injury and has only played twice.
He will join the Titans next season.
The Sydney Morning Herald quoted Titans coach Justin Holbrook this afternoon as saying he was “excited” about Fifita joining the team.
“As a coach we want to bring players to our club to improve the squad and David will definitely do that,” Holbrook said.
“David already has a close connection with our club through some of our players which is an important element that I am looking for as we build this team.”
The main points
Kaniva News commentary
The news that Tonga and other Pacific Island nations will have months to prepare for cyclones is welcome.
As Kaniva News reported yesterday, a team of climate scientists from the University of Newcastle in Australia and the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research in New Zealand have developed a prediction model that could improve early warnings.
Many parts of Tonga are still suffering from the effects of Cyclone Harold, which struck the kingdom in April, causing widespread devastation.
The new model will generate predictions for the number of cyclones in each country and territory, up to four months before the start of the tropical cyclone season.
The predictions will be updated and available for free on the Long-Range Tropical Cyclone Outlook for the Southwest Pacific website, www.tcoutlook.com.
The Southwest Pacific tropical cyclone season typically runs from November to April.
Tropical cyclones account for 76 per cent of disasters across the Southwest Pacific region, and since 1950, have claimed the lives of nearly 1,500 people and significantly affected the lives of another 3.1 million.
Dr Andrew Magee from the University of Newcastle said the new outlook would be vital to ensuring more effective disaster management.
He said if the predictions helped reduce the risk of disaster, they could save lives.
“Tropical cyclones are erratic and every season is different,” Dr Magee said.
“This makes it difficult for island nations and territories to prepare in the weeks and months before the official start of the tropical cyclone season.
“Our tropical cyclone guidance for Pacific Island nations and territories will improve early warnings and support preparations ahead of the tropical cyclone season.
“This will allow government and aid agencies to prepare enough supplies for the season ahead and will mean there is more time for decision makers to communicate with communities and allow for sufficient planning.”
More work on a bigger scale
However, Dr Magee has warned that climate change will make Island nations like Tonga more vulnerable to tropical cyclones.
Rising sea levels and other climate-change related phenomena are now part of everyday life in Tonga.
So while the improved early warning system is more than welcome, action on a much larger scale is needed.
The work of Dr Magee and his colleagues will make it easier to predict cyclones and give people time to prepare for them, but what is still needed a is concerted global effort to make sure the situation and the danger posed by cyclones and global warming do not become even more grave.
As a recent report suggests, however, it is time that the global community takes action and commits itself to taking serious action to fight climate change before it is too late.
“Combating the environmental crisis is not the work of one government or international organisation alone,” the report, by former UN officer and Canadian policy analyst Saber Salem, says.
“It requires collective action by diverse groups such as governments, multilateral organisations, multinational corporations and the general public.”
Salem said the crisis has been exacerbated by President Trump’s decision to abandon the Paris Agreement on climate change, which caused widespread concern in the Pacific.
“The US, China and India are some of the biggest polluters in the world. If these nations do not commit themselves to climate change and cut their carbon emissions to the atmosphere, the lesser polluters will justify their polluting actions and continue with the business as usual,” Salem said.
“For example, Pacific leaders have time and again appealed to Australia ‘to do everything possible to achieve a rapid transition from coal to energy sources that do not contribute to climate change.’
“However, as coal is at the heart of Australia’s ‘economic growth’ the current government has not taken any tangible actions to reduce coal emissions.
“Climate change is no longer primarily a scientific or technological challenge, but a political, social and economic one.
“Unless the global community establishes a strong political will with a strong leadership, environmental crisis will remain unaddressed and the Pacific will continue to bear the brunt of extreme impact of climate change.”
The main points
A father was killed after the car he was driving in struck a coconut tree yesterday morning Sunday 26.
An eyewitness alleged speed could have been a factor.
He posted photos to Facebook which showed the silver station wagon had sustained damage to its front, sides and roof.
Our correspondent in Tonga said the man was from Te’ekiu.
He said the father in his 40s is survived by his wife and children.
Authorities could not be reached for comment.
