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PSA boss accuses critics of signing petition using “swear words; ” signatures in question

By
Kalino Latu
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Public Service Association boss Mele ‘Amanaki has accused Democrat supporters of writing swear words in her petition for an investigation into Prime Minister ‘Akilisi Pōhiva and six other ministers.

She said these swear words had been signed as names of petitioners on her petition.

Meanwhile, there were complaints on Facebook by some concerned Tongans who said the names of dead family members appeared as signatures on the petition.

Amanaki said they would launch a complaint with the host of the online petition website to investigate those people who abused her petition.

She said anyone who signed the online petition registered their email addresses with the website.

“I can get [them] to verify who emailed over,” she said.

Amanaki was commenting in response to a post on Facebook by Tnews producer and reporter Sētita Tu’i’onetoa in which she had tagged Kaniva Tonga editor, Kalino Lātū.

Tu’i’onetoa said in Tongan: “…Koe ‘elito oe Tohi tangii ke fk hifo ae PM moe kau Minisita e toko 7 he kuo hala enau fkhoko fatongia.”

This translates into English as: “…the crux of the Petition was to overthrow the PM and seven other ministers because they did things which were wrong in their responsibility.”

In response ‘Amanaki wrote in Tongan: “Maloo Setita [Tu’i’onetoa]. Kataki toe fanongo lelei pea toki lipooti Na’e ‘ikai toko 8 na’e launga’i pea na’e ikai kau e Palemia he launga’ii koe kau Minisitaa kotoa pe…”

This translates into English as : “Thank you Setita. Please listen carefully before you report. The petition was not against 8 (ministers) and there was no complaint against the Prime Minister it was just all against ministers only.”

‘Amanaki’s response surprised Tu’i’onetoa, Kaniva News and some critics last night who followed Tu’ionetoa’s comment.

“Did I say 8?” Tu’i’onetoa replied.

She also asked in Tongan whether the petition was changed to remove the name of the Prime Minister.

“That’s funny,” Tu’i’onetoa said in Tongan.

Kaniva news asked ‘Amanaki to clarify her comment.

‘Amanaki responded by listing in Tongan the names of the ministers she complained about as:

(i) Minisitā Ako & Ako Ngāue mālōlō´, Minisitā Fakalotofonua mālōlō´, Minisitā ki Muli´ moe Minisitā ki he Komisoni ‘a e Ngāue Fakapule‘anga´ (Samuela ‘Akilisi Pōhiva),
(ii) Minisitā e Ngaahi Potungāue Lalahi´ & Takimamata´ (Semisi Sika),
(iii) Minisitā Pa‘anga´ (Pōhiva Tu’i’onetoa),
(iv) Minisitā Ako & Ako Ngāue´ (Penisimani Fifita),
(v) Minisitā Polisi´ mo e Minisitā Tukuhau & Kasitomu´ (Māteni Tapueluelu),
(vi) Minisitā Lao´ & Pilisone (Sione Vuna Fa‘otusia), mo e
(vii) Minisitā Fefakatau‘aki´, ‘Ilo Fo‘ou´ & Ngaahi Ngāue ‘a e Kakai´ (Tevita Tu’i Uata).

The list named Hon Pōhiva with his titles as former Minister of Education, Minister of Internal Affairs, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister for the Public Service Commission and not as a Prime Minister.

The list shows seven ministers altogether including Hon Pōhiva.

‘Amanaki appeared to have avoided referring to Hon Pōhiva as Prime Minister when she responded to Tu’i’onetoa on Facebook for reasons that are still unclear.

But critics quickly accused her of being unable to make up her mind.

One critic said that from the beginning of the petition campaign ‘Amanaki mentioned Hon Pohiva as Prime Minister as one of those she petitioned to be investigated and now she said he was not.

“We have “taken off” names in swear words which was entered by PTOA (Paati Temokalati ‘Otumotu Anga’ofa -  The Friendly Islands Democratic Party) supporters and we have asked the petition website to follow up with the email addresses to find out who had provided those names and will give them to you to look at hhhhh…they are just PTOA,” ‘Amanaki said.

The petition was strongly backed by unsuccessful parliamentary candidates and some de facto Democrat MPs.

The petition was tabled in Parliament on Thursday.

It alleged the Prime Minister and his cabinet colleagues breached the constitution.

The petition asks that an audit be carried out on some government department’s budgets from 2015 until now.

It also proposes the impeachment of six Cabinet Ministers, including Hon Pōhiva.

For more information

PSA head rebuts Kele’a newspaper’s attacks as petition to investigate Cabinet submitted

 

Gov’t sets aside $107 million in new budget to support post-cyclone recovery

By
Kalino Latu
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The government has set aside TP$107.32 million in its 2018/19 budget to help the country recover fully from the effects of Cyclone Gita.

The money will be spent over the next three years. The government will spend TP$59.56 million in the 2018 – 19 fiscal year; TP$33.88 million between 2019-20 and TP$13.88 million in 2020-21.

The Minister of Finance, Pōhiva Tu’i’onetoa, said in a summary of the budget statement written in Tongan, the money was part of the government’s TP$659.3 million allocation, which included TP$476.8 million cash and in-kind donations of TP$182.5 million.

Hon Tu’i’onetoa said the budget had been created based on the idea that the recovery process after the Category 4 tropical cyclone would be pushed until it reached an acceptable level.

The estimated cost of damages caused by tropical cyclone Gita reached $328.8 million.

In other budget news, foreign remittances were TP$332.5 in February 2018, a rise on the  TP$284.2 million reported for 2016-17.

There was an increase in the number of tourists coming to Tonga, with a 16.4 percent rise reported by the Minister to the House yesterday. It was recommended that the Ministry of Tourism look for more cruise ships to come to Tonga.

According to the Minister’s statement, salaries and wages of civil servants account for 52 percent of the budget.

The Ministry of Education take the biggest share from the budget. The government subsidy to non-government schools will be increased by TP$7 million.

The Ministry of Health had the next highest share of the budget.

Government debt is mostly to overseas lenders. It said the expected changes to the money exchanges rates threatened the situation, especially because payments were made in US dollars.

To resolve this situation the government undertook to only borrow money for the government’s big projects, with loans that could be repaid at very low interest rates.

The House is expected to discuss the budget statement and approved it before the beginning of the new fiscal year on July 1.

New secretary of Foreign Affairs appointed

By
Kaniva Staff
-

Mahe ‘Uli’uli Sandhurst Tupouniua has been appointed as the  Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Public Service Commission announced today that Tupouniua would take on the role today June 14 for a period of four years.

Tupouniua was first appointed as a civil servant in 1990 to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs where he held various positions including Secretary for Foreign Affairs from 4 January, 2011 for two years.

He has served as an Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Kingdom of Tonga to the People’s Republic of China, United States of America and Cuba.

Prior to taking up his second appointment as Secretary for Foreign Affairs, Tupouniua was the Ambassador and Permanent Representative of the Kingdom of Tonga to the United Nations, New York.

Tupouniua holds a Master of Arts in Foreign Affairs and Trade from the University of Monash, Australia, a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the University of Phoenix, United States of America and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Auckland, New Zealand.

“The Public Service Commission welcomes Mr Mahe ‘Uli’uli Sandhurst Tupouniua appointment as the Secretary for Foreign Affairs and wishes him a successful and fulfilling term in Office.”

Gov’t gives out $4.8 million to 6,996 households affected by cyclone Gita

By
Kalino Latu
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The government has given out TP$4.8 million to 6996 owners of houses which were damaged by tropical cyclone Gita four months ago.

The distribution of the money on June 12 came after a survey carried out by the Department of Statistics in March 2018 was completed.

The damage caused by the cyclone was classified into four main categories.

Category one covers houses which were totally destroyed.

Category two covers houses which extensively damaged to the point where the roofs and walls were torn apart and destroyed.

Category three and four cover houses which had “minor and minimal damage” meaning the structure of the houses remained intact and they were still liveable.

The people whose houses fell under category one received $3000 each,

Those whose houses came under category two received $1500 each.

Those whose houses fell under category three and four received $500 each.

The government said of the 6996 houses surveyed, 6193 houses were damaged in Tongatapu while 546 were affected in ‘Eua.

It said the government built 257 temporary housing units for some victims under Category One so they could stop living in tents. Of the 257 houses built, 230 were in Tongatapu and 27 in ‘Eua.

The Minister of Finance, Pōhiva Tu’i’onetoa, told Kaniva news the survey contained some technical errors.

This included houses which were damaged, but were not listed to receive funding.

The town and district officers were asked to report these people so they could be given the correct amount of donations.

Some names had been mistyped and work to resolve this was expected to be completed by this week.

“All in all the people were happy with the money they received to help them,” the Minister said.

The Ministry of Infrastructure, Finance, Internal Affairs and Department of Statistics were working together on this project.

Overseas aid

As Kaniva News reported in March, the National Emergency Management Office (NEMO) announced that all of the TP$52.6 million donated to Tonga by overseas donors would be spent on the recovery process.

NEMO said TP$23.6 million in cash had been deposited in the government’s cyclone Gita’s bank account, with TP$2 million deposited into its normal account.

Cabinet had allocated TP$21.4 for the Cyclone sub-committee to help the recovery process.

It said the money would be spent on specific areas including shelter, education, food and security, and communication.

The smallest allocation, TP$200,000, will go to communications with the largest outlay, TP$7.7 million, going to essential services, including electricity maintenance.

Donor money allocated to cyclone recovery, but rebuilding yet to be budgeted

Three teens arrested after Central Auckland violent attack

By
Kaniva Staff
-

Police have arrested three teenagers in relation to a violent assault of two men in Auckland’s CBD on 5 May 2018.

The two male victims were violently assaulted and rendered unconscious in what was a completely unprovoked and frightening attack on Queen Street.

Three 17-year-old males have all been charged with two counts of injures with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.

One of the males also faces an additional charge of assault with a weapon.

Two of the alleged offenders have since appeared in Auckland District Court where they were remanded on bail until their next court appearance on 13 June 2018.

The third male will be appearing in the Youth Court.

Detective Tom Malcolm says Police worked tirelessly on this investigation and cannot rule out the possibility of further arrests as enquiries continue.

“I would like to thank members of our community who came forward with vital information which has allowed to Police to identify those allegedly involved.

I would also like to acknowledge Police Ten 7 for their assistance.”

“Thankfully, the victims are expected to make a full recovery and we hope these arrests provide them with some degree of comfort in what has been a trying time for them.

Every person has the right to go out and enjoy a night out without fear of being attacked,” says Det.

Parliament response to king’s concerns take a pledge to get tough on drug crimes

By
Kalino Latu
-

A Parliamentary letter of response to concerns raised by the king has pledged to review legislation to combat Tonga’s drug crisis.

It said the House would make sure those involved in drug related crimes were punished with the toughest penalties available.

The concerns were raised in the king’s speech to mark the opening of Parliament.

The letter, dated May 31 and approved by the House on June 5, said the legislators supported the rule of law.

The one-page letter said it was the duty of Parliament to make sure legislation was formulated and reviewed from time to time to facilitate works promoted by anti-drug organisations.

It said social problems which affected the country occurred on daily basis.

The Parliamentarians thanked His Majesty for his concerns over the tropical Cyclone Gita recovery process and his call to speed it up, the letter said.

“We undertake to do our best and work together with related organisations to furnish the earnest need of the people who were affected,” the letter said in Tongan.

It said the letter of response to His Majesty’s speech was a traditional procedure.

His Majesty raised a number of issues, but said the biggest problem facing Tonga was the use of illicit drugs.

He wanted the government to speed up the recovery process from Cyclone Gita and said Tonga needed to upgrade the quality and levels of its academic qualifications at higher education to be in line with that of the international academic levels.

His Majesty also said it was important for Members of Parliament and civil servants to carry out their responsibilities according to the law.

The letter of response

Discussion of the letter

The letter was discussed in Parliament with MPs giving corrections and adding what they think should be added to it.

The corrections were mainly made on the structure of the letters, its wordings and some grammatical errors.

Tongatapu 3 MP, Hon. Siaosi Sovaleni, moved to allocate further funding for the anti-drug organisations.

The Minister of Finance told the House Hon Sovaleni’s motion was already on the 2018-19 budget and it did not need to be mentioned in the letter to the king.

The Speaker asked the MPs to take a ballot on the letter and whether they all agreed to the corrections and additional information made. The ballot was carried by 22 MPs who voted for.

The Speaker picked the Noble for Ha’apai 2 and Tongatapu 2 MP to deliver the letter to His Majesty while the king was in Australia.

For more information 

King expresses concern over increasing drug and alcohol elated deaths

Traffic delays for South Auckland after serious crash; One dead in Whanganui crash

By
Kaniva Staff
-

One person has received serious injuries and has been taken to hospital following a crash between a car and motorcycle.

The incident occurred at the intersection of Manukau Station Road and Great South Road, Manukau.

Cordon’s have been set up at the intersection and traffic is being diverted.

The Serious Crash Unit is investigating.

Police are advising motorists to expect delays and avoid the area if possible.

Meanwhile, one person has died following a single car crash in Castlecliff, Whanganui.

Emergency Services were called to the crash involving a car and a tree on Polson Street at 2.16pm.

The person who died was the front seat passenger of the car.

The car involved was reported as stolen.

The driver left the scene after the crash and enquiries are underway to locate them.

The Serious Crash Unit is investigating.

Aust Minister in Tonga to handover vehicles; supports military commitment

By
Kaniva Staff
-

The Australian Defence Minister Marise Payne was in Nuku’alofa this morning.

Hon Payne has presented five Australian-gifted Unimog vehicles to His Majesty’s Armed Forces.

She was expected to discuss Australia’s ongoing commitment to support His Majesty’s Armed Forces to further enhance its capability to respond to natural disasters.

The Minister visited Nuku’alofa after the Royal Australian Navy ships HMAS Adelaide and HMAS Melbourne docked at Tonga’s Vuna wharf this morning.

The ships were there as part of Indo-Pacific Endeavour, an Australian Defence Force activity to promote security in the Pacific region.

During their visit, they will work with their Tongan counterparts in capacity-building exercises and training, and engage with the local community.

“I will also promote the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda while in Tonga by facilitating a WPS workshop with Australian Defence Force and His Majesty’s Armed Forces personnel as part of Indo-Pacific Endeavour 2018,” Minister Payne said.

On 14 June in Solomon Islands, the Minister will visit the Forum Fisheries Agency and the Royal Solomon Islands Police Force Maritime Headquarters.

The Minister will also lay a wreath at the Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands Memorial and visit the Skyline Memorial to commemorate the Battle of Guadalcanal.

“Australia’s close security partnership with Solomon Islands continues to strengthen following the conclusion of the Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands (RAMSI) last year and this visit is an opportunity to demonstrate our enduring commitment to our Pacific Partners,” Minister Payne said.

Minister Payne said Australia valued the enduring relationship with both countries and would continue to seek further opportunities to deepen these relationships.

Minister Payne will meet with senior leaders from both countries as part her visit.

Jonah Lomu finally gets a headstone on his grave

By
Kaniva Staff
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The global rugby superstar Jonah Lomu finally got a headstone on his grave.

The All Black legend’s headstone was officially unveiled on Monday in Auckland.

It features the quote: “Families can be together forever.”

According to NewtalkZB  the event has caused a fresh family stoush.

The rugby legend’s family, including his mother, said they have not been involved in the planning by Lomu’s widow Nadine, it said.

“His mum will not be at the unveiling tomorrow, as she is in Fiji and only found out about the ceremony two days ago.”

Nadene the wife of Lomu told One News everyone had been invited including all of Jonah’s family.

She said the short notice about the ceremony was due to uncertainty over the headstone being completed.

Lomu’s brother John and an aunt who has travelled from Australia were among members of the Lomu family attending.

Guests include former All Blacks Eric Rush and Josh Kronfeld and Lomu’s former manager Phil Kingsley-Jones.

A musical tribute featured Chicago’s You’re the Inspiration.

A prayer was said before John Lomu gave a brief speech.

He paused, seemingly gathering himself, before saying: “It’s time to be together as a family.

“Thank you everyone for being here.”

Lomu was born on 12 May 1975 and died on November 18 2015. He played 63 Tests for the All Blacks.

NZ police lay charge one year after Tongan man’s death

By
Kaniva Staff
-

The New Zealand Police have charged a charter boat company over the death of a Tongan man who fell overboard on a cruise ship in June 2017.

The body of Tēvita Kava, 29, was found in Auckland’s Waitemata Harbour 10 days after falling overboard from a Red Boats charter during a friend’s birthday party on June 3.

Maritime New Zealand filed a charge against The Red Boats Limited under the Health and Safety at Work Act, New Zealand Herald reports.

It says the company is charged with “failing to comply with duty that exposes individuals to risk of death or serious injury or serious illness”.

Kava’s cousin Ngaire Speedy told Herald the family are relieved a charge has been laid over the death of her cousin.

It has been revealed Kava had a daughter but the family had initially kept it quiet to protect her, Herald reports.

But they now wanted people to know the little girl was among those affected by the tragedy.

“She’s doing all right. She lives in [Kava’s native] Tonga and she’s finally accepted it but I think we won’t tell her about the court [charge] … until the end.”

Kava was standing at the back of the charter boat during an evening cruise when he fell backwards into the water.

At the time, friends on board said Kava fell when a ramp gave way.

Red Boats owner Andrew Somers said at the time the ramp wasn’t broken and staff had later tested it.

He didn’t know how the ramp, usually locked and tied in place, became unlocked and untied, Somers said last June.

The matter is before the coroner, and an inquest will take place at a later date.

Somers said this week he did not yet know enough about the charge to comment.

The company will make its first appearance on June 20 in the Waitākere District Court.

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