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Former gov’t uses Australian $2m fund to purchase Lulutai aircraft saying it was the ‘grant’s intended purpose’, High Commissioner’s letter says otherwise 

By
Kalino Latu
-

The new government had been urged to hold the previous administration responsible by conducting an audit of its services.  

Dr Taniela Fusimālohi. Photo/Fale Alea o Tonga

MP Dr Taniela Fusimālohi, a staunch supporter of the Prime Minister Designate, Dr ‘Aisake Eke, recently said in the House that the audit will ensure transparency and accountability in managing public funds.

He mentioned the former government’s annual budgets as an area of focus for the auditor.

The former Hu’akavameiliku government’s involvement in the national airlines was accused of “secrecy” surrounding its decision-making.

This criticism persisted despite the former Prime Minister providing responses and clarifications to most allegations against him in Parliament, the media, and during his two Motions of Confidence Vote.

However, one of the issues he appeared to have failed to provide a satisfactory response pertains to the Australian $2 million grant his government had allocated to buy the Lulutai’s Twin Otter aircraft last year. 

The Prime Minister Elect, Dr Eke and MP Dr Fusimālohi believed the money should not have been used to buy the aircraft.

They previously quizzed the Prime Minister in Parliament about the grant.

At one stage, the Minister for Civil Aviation, Seventeen Toumo’ua intervened and claimed that the fund was specifically granted to assist in purchasing the Lulutai’s Twin Otter aircraft.  

According to Hansard number 29 of 2023 the Minister said in Tongan:

“ko e 2 miliona ko eni na’e ‘omai ‘e ‘Asitelēlia ko e ‘omai hangatonu ia ki he vakapuna”.   

In English, he said: “The 2 million fund was directly granted by Australia for the aircraft”.   

However, the information later provided by the former Australian High Commissioner to Tonga, Rachel Moore, about the grant didn’t seem to be the case.  

Kaniva News recently obtained a copy of a letter purported to provide Moore’s responses to MP Fusimālohi after he sought clarification on the grant.   

Ms Moore said:   

“In 2023 Australia provided elevated levels of direct budget support to the Government of Tonga to support economic recovery following the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcanic eruption and tsunami and COVID-19 pandemic. The Government of Tonga allocates Australian general budget support at its discretion”.  

Ms Moore’s response did not mention that the grant of $2 million was specifically intended to support the purchase of the Twin Otter.  

She also clarified other assistance the Australian government had provided to Tonga.     

She said: “We appreciate the Government of Tonga’s assessment of the importance of reliable domestic aviation connectivity to economic recovery as well as service delivery. Australia has provided support to Tonga’s aviation sector since mid-2022, including through the wet- lease arrangement between Lulutai Airlines and Fiji Airways to operate regular domestic flights from January to May 2023. Australia has also funded training for Lulutai pilots and engineers and for air traffic controllers from Tonga Airports Limited. Australia continues to work with Lulutai to develop a long-term sustainable business plan and to improve corporate functions and the airline’s reservations and sales systems.” 

The question remains: will Dr Eke’s government review Lulutai Airlines and the use of the Australian grant?  

The opposition had brought up the grant issue in Parliament in the 2023 Motion of No Confidence against Hu’akavameiliku. They had been concerned at the government’s apparent misleading the House that it was intended for the Lulutai’s Twin Otter purchase. The former Prime Minister had no response.

Fire reduces house on Tongatapu to ashes two days before New Year 

By
Kaniva Staff
-

A fire has completely burned down a house in Tofoa, occurring just two days before the New Year celebrations.  

A house fire in Tofoa

Firefighters attended the scene on Sunday morning.  

The event has left the community in shock. 

Reports indicated that the owner and their family were attending a service at a local church at the time the incident occurred.  

Conversations overheard on streamed videos taken at the scene showed onlookers speculating that power may have been a contributing factor.  

Footage of Tongan kids spotted in DIY pool trailer while being towed on busy road divides community

By
Kaniva Staff
-

A group of young children have been spotted enjoying and cooling themselves off in a DIY pool placed on a moving trailer in Tonga.  

A group of young children has been observed enjoying themselves while cooling off in a mobile pool on a moving trailer in Tonga.

The unusual scene has caught the attention of locals and travellers alike, sparking conversations on social media about the creativity.  

The makeshift pool was being towed along a busy road on Tongatapu, with the young children under 10 left unsupervised in the trailer.  

It appeared that an inflatable pool was positioned inside the fenced trailer before it was filled with water.  

Kaniva News could not independently verify the authenticity of the footage.

The operator of the trailer could not be reached for comment.

Those who shared the footage with some Facebook users poked fun at the unusual scene and couldn’t help but make light of it, posting humorous comments and playful jabs at what they saw. 

However, some commenters expressed concerns about the potential danger for the children if something went wrong along the road. 

In Tongan, a commenter wrote: “Pe ‘oku fēfē fakakaukau ‘a e faka’uli?”, asking what the driver would think of any danger that could happen. 

One commenter said they had seen several incidents where trailers flipped during towing, especially on busy motorways.

It is summertime in Tonga, making it a popular time for festivals and gatherings, while many seek refuge under palm trees or enjoy refreshing coconut water to stay cool.  

Seizures of 100kg of ‘crystal methamphetamine’ in total in last six years in Tonga concerning, says UN report

By
Kalino Latu
-

The increasing number of confiscations of crystal methamphetamine in Tonga since 2018 has raised alarms, a recently released report said.

Note: Flow arrows represent the general direction of trafficking and do not coincide with precise sources of production or manufacture, are not actual routes, and are not weighted for significance/scale. Boundaries, names and designations used do not imply official endorsement or acceptance by the United Nations. Source: UNODC elaboration of national data and reports from origin, transit and destination countries.

The report by the  United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime highlighted a worrying trend about how 97.16kg of this dangerous substance affects people’s health.  

It said the amount is relatively small compared to drugs seized in other countries of the Pacific, but “given that the population in Tonga is just over 100,000, the quantities seized in the country may be a cause of concern”.  

It comes as Tongan authorities grappled to combat rampant illicit drug abuse across the nation. 

Earlier this year, a public debate in Parliament rejected a suggestion that the death penalty be used to deter drug offenders. 

The report, Transnational Organized Crime in the Pacific: Expansion, Challenges and Impact showed that the value of one gram of methamphetamine in Tonga was reportedly US$ 252.00.

That’s an equivalent of TOP$605.00. 

It said this was higher than in any other Southeast Asian countries reported in 2023.  

The report said: “From 2018 through July 2024, Tongan authorities seized 97.16 kg of crystal methamphetamine, of which more than half (53.5 per cent) was seized in 2023 and 2024 (1 January through 27 July), and about 72.5 kg of cocaine, with total seizures of 58 kg in 2018 and approximately 14.5 kg in 2021”.

Trafficking routes

Tonga is one of the Pacific Island countries most impacted by the increase in illicit drug flows through the Pacific region, including Papua New Guinea and Fiji.

“Recent drug-related cases reported from Papua New Guinea, Fiji, and Tonga also strongly indicate that drug use as well as wider organized crime activities are expanding rapidly”.

Fiji also appears to be growing in importance as a regional hub for drug trafficking and an emerging base for transnational organized crime networks.

“In January 2024, Fijian authorities made massive methamphetamine seizures totaling 4.8 tons; the seized methamphetamine originated in Mexico. Five known related shipments had previously transited through Fiji. Nadi is believed to be the primary transit point in the Pacific, and trafficking groups bring their yachts from Tonga to Fiji, where the drugs are transferred to another vessel for further trafficking”.

Corruption  

The report said that corruption has also been an enabler of some of the drug shipments transiting into and through Tonga destined to markets in Oceania.  

It reported several incidents in Tonga reported in the media concerning drug arrests.  

This included an incident in 2019 in which “a senior customs officer was arrested for his involvement in importing a shipment of 6 kg of methamphetamine into Tonga along with quantities of cannabis, cannabis oil, arms and ammunition from the United States”, the report said.

In August 2024, Tongan police arrested 17 people in relation to methamphetamine trafficking into Tonga.  

The suspects were believed to have been involved in the importation, intended sale and distribution of methamphetamine in the country, and the laundering of the proceeds by individuals and businesses.  

“During the week-long operation that included raids at multiple locations, police seized 6.1 kg of methamphetamine that was imported from the United States, and made further arrests, including the arrest of a customs officer and a prisons officer who were charged with offenses related to the import, and a prominent businessman who was arrested for money laundering”.  

Police also seized numerous pieces of clothing with the logo of the Comanchero Outlaw Motorcycle Gang as well as cash counting machines and drug utensils. 

Impacts on health 

The report indicated that methamphetamine has been the most frequently used drug in Tonga over the past five years, as observed by experts. This increased usage has contributed to a rise in the number of mental health patients in the country. 

It follows previous media reports that the impacts of illicit drugs are being felt acutely in Tonga’s psychiatric ward.  

“Between 20% and 70% of all monthly admissions are due to consumption of cannabinoids or methamphetamine or both,” Dr Mapa Puloka, Tonga’s head psychiatrist, was reported by the Guardian as saying.  

“Drugs has now become a main precipitating factor for the occurrences of mental illnesses and the frequent relapse of persons with chronic psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia and bipolar.” 

Puloka reportedly said the crisis had become so dire that some psychiatric patients have had to sleep on the hospital floor. 

What is crystal methamphetamine?  

According to the US Department of Justice, crystal methamphetamine is a colourless, odourless form of d-methamphetamine, a powerful and highly addictive synthetic (man-made) stimulant. Crystal methamphetamine typically resembles small fragments of glass or shiny blue-white “rocks” of various sizes. Like powdered methamphetamine (another form of d-methamphetamine), crystal methamphetamine is abused because of the long-lasting euphoric effects it produces. Crystal methamphetamine, however, typically has a higher purity level and may produce even longer-lasting and more intense physiological effects.  

Summer shark sightings: Bay of Plenty, Christchurch beaches closed by lifeguards

By
Kaniva Staff
-

Popular beaches in holiday hotspots in both islands have been forced to close this afternoon after separate shark sightings, prompting evacuations by lifeguards.

Shark sighted sign, generic, file pic

Photo: AFP

Lifeguards at Ōhope near the Top 10 Holiday Park in the Eastern Bay of Plenty evacuated the beach after a shark was spotted in the surf about 4pm.

People could be seen standing on the shoreline looking for the shark before leaving the beach soon after.

Lifeguards took down the flags at Ōhope and blew a whistle to alert swimmers of the shark.

Rotorua mother and daughter Mary and Brittany Eriksen, who are staying at their family bach nearby, had just got out of the water and were drying off when they heard a lifeguard blow a loud whistle.

One of the lifeguards then carried a sign above his head that read “shark” to show swimmers what had been spotted.

“At that moment, dozens of people raced out of the water,” Brittany said.

“It was more exciting than scary with everyone trying to spot the fin. He proved pretty elusive though.”

Meanwhile, in the South Island, Swimsafe has red-flagged Christchurch’s New Brighton Beach today due to a shark sighting.

It comes after holidaymakers were warned not to swim at Whiritoa Beach on the Coromandel Peninsula yesterday after reports of multiple shark sightings.

A spokesman for the Whiritoa Lifeguard Service told the Herald there had been three separate shark sightings close to the shore on Friday and the beach had been closed intermittently.

He said they didn’t get a good look at the sharks, but thought they may have been bronze whalers – considering how shallow the water was they came into – and said they were “on the smaller side”. He didn’t know if the separate sightings were of the same shark.

Surf Life Saving NZ earlier said a shark sighting near the flagged area of Waihī Beach, just down the coast from Whiritoa Beach, forced its temporary closure on Christmas Day.

Shark scientist Riley Elliott told RNZ earlier this week the risk of shark attacks was pretty low.

Over summer, sharks headed inshore to drop off their pups in nursery habitats, he said.

Those areas were usually warm, calm, shallow and had lots of small fish, and generally happened to be the nice places people liked to swim in.

“But what that does mean is we don our Speedos and we go to the beach and we see sharks.”

The most common shark people would see in the North Island and Upper South Island was the bronze whaler, Elliott said.

Further south, they could encounter the sevengill shark and the great white shark.

* This story was first published by the New Zealand Herald.

Whooping cough: Samoa waits for more test results from New Zealand

By
Kaniva Staff
-

ByMargot Staunton of rnz.co.nz and is republished with permission

Suspected and confirmed cases of whooping cough have reached 127 in Samoa.

An illustration of Bordetella pertussis which is a Gram-negative, aerobic, pathogenic, encapsulated coccobacillus of the genus Bordetella, and the causative agent of pertussis or whooping cough.

An illustration of Bacteria Bordetella pertussis which causes whooping cough. Photo: 123RF

Samoa’s deputy director general of health, Dr Robert Thomsen, said 14 cases were confirmed and 113 suspected between September and December 16.

Dr Thomsen told RNZ Pacific that the extent of the outbreak should become clear later this week.

“We are expecting to receive samples that were sent to New Zealand for analysis, by the end of the week” he said.

He said that 42 percent of the cases so far involved infants under a year old, eight percent one to two months old and the remainder younger than two.

Just over half of the infants have needed hospital care for the highly contagious virus.

He said whooping cough usually begins with flu-like symptoms and can last for up to five days.

“These include general malaise and a running nose and as it worsens, a fever and distinctive, severe hacking cough.”

Samoa’s vaccination programme has been highly successful, and 95 per cent of infants aged between six weeks and 15 months have now been vaccinated.

Efforts are underway to introduce vaccines for adults at a huge cost.

Winning ticket for $1.22 billion lottery jackpot sold in California, Mega Millions says

By
Kaniva Staff
-

ATLANTA (AP) — At least one Mega Millions player has plenty of dough to ring in the New Year after drawing the winning number. After three months without anyone winning the top prize in the lottery, a ticket worth an estimated $1.22 billion was sold in California for the drawing Friday night, according to the Mega Millions website.

The winning ticket matched the white balls 3, 7, 37, 49, 55 and the gold Mega Ball 6. The identity of the winner or winners was not immediately known.

The total amount of the Mega Millions jackpot would only be distributed to a winner who chooses an annuity paid over 29 years. Nearly all grand prize winners opt to take a cash payout, which for Friday night’s drawing is an estimated $549.7 million.

Despite the game’s long odds of 1 in 302.6 million, players continued to purchase tickets as the size of the grand prize grew. Until Friday, the last time a Mega Millions player hit the top prize was Sept. 10.

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The largest-ever Mega Millions jackpot ticket worth $1.6 billion was sold in Florida in August 2023. Two prizes for its compatriot Powerball lottery have been larger.

Mega Millions and Powerball are sold in 45 states, as well as Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Powerball also is sold in Puerto Rico.

Mega Millions ticket prices are set to rise from $2 to $5 in April. The increase will be one of many changes that officials say will result in improved jackpot odds, more frequent giant prizes and even larger payouts.

Tonga Police seize $3,000 cash and illicit drugs in Christmas crackdown  

By
Kaniva Staff
-

Tongan Police conducted an operation during the Christmas season, leading to the seizure of $3,000 in cash along with a stash of illicit drugs and drug-related paraphernalia. 

The Police detained men aged between 19 and 42 during the raids, focusing on various locations nationwide.   

It follows an earlier arrest in Lapaha in which a 41-year-old man was charged with possession of 3.5kg methamphetamine.  

“We urge the public to report any illicit drug-related activities or suspicious behaviour to the nearest Police Station,” the Police said in a statement. 

It said this operation highlights ongoing efforts to combat drug-related activities, especially during a time when community safety is a top priority.

Authorities are reminding the public to stay vigilant and report any suspicious activities.  

Police seeking help to identify body found in Wellington

By
Kaniva Staff
-

By rnz.co.nz

Police are seeking help to identify a man found in Wellington on Friday morning.

Waves break on Breaker Bay this evening as the size of the swell increases.

Breaker Bay is on the south east coast of Wellington City. Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone

Police were alerted to the body of a man in the rockpools at Breaker Bay around 10.40am.

The death is being treated as unexplained and inquiries are ongoing to identify the man and determine what occurred.

The man is white, aged approximately in his 60s, of average height and build, clean-shaven, with short grey-white hair.

He was wearing blue jeans, black socks, brown walking shoes, a blue t-shirt under a black long-sleeve button-up shirt, and had a grey Kathmandu light jacket with green trim.

Anyone with any information, or who may be able to help identify the man, or what happened to him, is asked to contact police through 105 using the reference number 241227/7181.

Concerns mount over Retirement Fund Board’s money borrowed for Lulutai’s aircraft purchase after collapse of Hu‘akavameiliku gov’t  

By
Kalino Latu
-

The fall of the former government has triggered growing concerns regarding the loan from the public servants’ investments for retirement to fund the Lulutai Airlines’ recently purchased Twin Otter aircraft.

Former Prime Minister Hu’akavameiliku and Prime Minister Elect Dr ‘Aisake Eke. Photo/Fale Alea ‘o Tonga

The former Hu’akavameiliku government borrowed approximately $4.5 million but also faced strong criticisms from the Opposition for not addressing the loan transparently and in a timely manner in the House.

Most MPs only learned about the government’s intention to purchase the Twin Otter last year from Kaniva News, which prompted heated debates in the Parliament before Hon Hu’akavameiliku admitted the purchase and the loan.

A letter had been recently sent to the Retirement Fund Board and members of the Lulutai Board of Directors, including Hon Hu’akavameiliku, asking for an explanation about the loan’s status.  

Mele ‘Amanaki, representing the Tonga Work Association (TNWC), reportedly said the letter raises concerns with the authorities regarding the change in government, as anticipated policy changes could impact the loan repayment process.  

She asked who would pay back the loan if Lulutai would cease operation.  

She claimed on Facebook that the new government could cancel the loan guarantee.  

In Tongan she said: “He ka mate ‘ae Lulutaii, ko hai te ne totongi fakafoki mai e lauimiliona na’e noo?  Kuo mahino ‘oku lava pe he Kapineti Fo’ouu ‘o kaniseli ha malu’i ha noo na’e fai e Kapineti motu’aa”. 

Loan guarantee  

Dr ‘Aisake Eke, the Prime Minister Elect, previously said in an interview with Kaniva News that Lulutai’s loan from the Retirement Fund Board might be secure because it was guaranteed by the government. 

However, he was concerned about the airline’s lack of transparency and the allegations of associated financial losses.  

He said that if Lulutai failed to repay the money, the government would need to reallocate funds from other parts of the budget, which would be a problem. 

It follows accusations raised in the House regarding the government being required to pay millions as a guarantee to Tonga Development Bank for loans associated with companies involved in the Tu’i’onetoa government’s controversial multi-million roading project. 

Lulutai Airlines has been controversial since its inception in 2020 by the Tu’i’onetoa government, in which most Hu’akavemeiliku Cabinet Ministers were members.  

The then Opposition Leader Semisi Sika criticised the government’s involvement in operating airlines after it took over the services from Real Tonga Airlines.  

The government stated that Real Tonga was operating at a loss and owed significant debts to the government. 

However, critics said it was better for the government to leave the airlines for the private sector as operating such services in Tonga is unlikely to be profitable due to the high costs and limited market size. They said it was the government’s responsibility to support the private sector.

Lulutai status

The national airline has faced significant operational challenges following its Saab 340 De Havilland crash, which collided with a cement block at the Fua’amotu Domestic Airport in December 2023.

It appears that the aircraft did not have insurance coverage, and no replacement has been provided since the incident. 

Lulutai recently hired an aircraft from New Zealand’s Chatham Airlines, a company previously providing domestic services in the kingdom, to fill in at peak times. Chatham was forced to leave Tonga in 2012 after the then government partnered with Real Tonga Airlines to establish new domestic services.

Kaniva News has contacted Lulutai CEO and former Prime Minister Hu’akavameiliku for comment.

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