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Police deny hit-and-run reports after man killed in Tongatapu road accident

By
Kaniva Staff
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Reports early this week said a 51-year-old man died in Veitongo on Tuesday 3 after he was knocked down by a hit-and-run driver on Taufa’ahau main road.

But Police have denied the reports.

Acting Police Superintendent Tevita Vailea told Kaniva News he had been contacted after reports on Facebook wrongly accused the 60-year-old man, who was driving the vehicle at the time of the accident, of hit-and-run.

“’Oku ‘ikai mo’oni e pehe ko e hit and run,” Vailea said.

This translates into English as: “The hit-and-run claim is untrue.”

The victim from Folaha was declared dead on arrival at Vaiola hospital.

The driver, who was also a church minister, stopped and helped the victim before he was rushed to hospital, Vailea said.

Police arrested him after receiving a report of the accident at around 11.30pm.

The accused was charged with careless driving causing death.

Police believed “poor visibility due to bad weather” and high speed were factors in the fatal accident.

Police investigation continues.

Tonga has ‘full support’ in PACER Plus agreement, says CEO 

By
Kalino Latu
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Tonga said New Zealand and Australia have its full support in processing the PACER Plus trade agreement.

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Ministry of Labour and Commerce, Edgar Cocker said the government was working closely with the two countries to revise regulations and frameworks in readiness for the exportation of goods from Tonga to New Zealand and Australia.

Cocker said Tonga is expecting training and technical works as part of the work it did on the preparation process.

“Tonga is in full support of the PACER Plus Agreement,” Cocker told Kaniva News.

“We are currently working closely with NZ and Australia on implementation of the readiness package which includes the revision of the regulatory framework in Tonga and other Pacific Island Countries, the implementation of the trading and export framework, and many more activities to come forward including training attachment, and other technical works, as stipulated,” he said in an email.

“These are to enhance export development from Tonga to NZ and Australia.”

Cocker’s comment came after a report by Matangi Tonga online on March 26 reported the Prime Minister ‘Akilisi Pohiva told local reporters in a press conference the kingdom was no longer interested in the PACER Plus trade deal.

Hon. Pohiva has vehemently denied the report.

“The PACER Plus and its Alternatives outline the region’s current trading arrangements and trade flows, before investigating the options available for a new economic cooperation agreement that is likely to benefit, rather than harm, the Pacific’s development prospects.”

However some analysts said the planned trade deal with Pacific Island nations could be extremely damaging to their economies.

Dr. Cleo Paskal told Radio New Zealand International the New Zealand and Australian authorities were unaware of what was happening with PACER Plus.

Previous PC Panel letter asks cabinet to confirm Police Commissioner’s pay

By
Kalino Latu
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A letter from the Privy Council’s Appointment Panel in 2015 to former Minister of Police Pohiva Tu’i’onetoa contained a request to Cabinet to confirm what it had agreed with New Zealand on the Police Commissioner’s pay.

The letter, which was written by former clerk of the Panel, Rosamond C. Bing, on 23 January 2015 was intended to ask the government to confirm it agreed with a draft contract of the current police commissioner Steve Caldwell.

Bing wanted to make sure the two governments reached a conclusion on the pay before the Panel recommended Mr. Caldwell’s appointment to the king.

She said the Panel had nothing to do with the commissioner’s pay and because Tonga had no Police Commissioner at the time she asked for an urgent response from the minister.

“Obviously any appointment of actual salary terms for Mr. Caldwell’s appointment must be negotiated between the New Zealand government and the Tongan government and that is not something the Panel is in a position to undertake,” Ms Fonua wrote.

The letter was sent to the Minister and copied to New Zealand’s then High Commissioner in Tonga, Mark Talbot, together with a copy of former Police Commissioner Grant O’Fee’s contract.

Bing wrote: “The Panel has assumed that the same arrangement will apply with respect to the appointment of Mr. Caldwell however before we are in a position to make a recommendation to His Majesty in Privy Council as to what the specific benefits and supplementary should be, we need to know what the government of Tonga and government of New Zealand are willing to contribute to the position.”

“I would be grateful for your urgent confirmation that the government is in agreement with the draft terms so that this can be submitted to His Majesty in Privy Council for approval.”

Commissioner versus the minister

Mr. Caldwell was at the centre of a clash between the Privy Council’s Appointment Panel and the Cabinet after the current Minister of Police Mateni Tapueluelu submitted that the Panel not extend the commissioner’s contract.

The Panel has already indicated it would recommend the king approve Mr Caldwell’s appointment.

As Kaniva News reported, the Privy Council has given Mr Caldwell seven days to respond.

Hon. Tapueluelu has made a number of accusations against the Police Commissioner including alleging his decision making was swayed by a number of corrupt senior Tongan officials in his office.

The former Minister of His Majesty’s Armed Forces Lord Ma’afu told Kakalu ‘o Tonga newspaper  Mr. Caldwell had written to Cabinet and apologised for the signing of a permit by the Deputy Commissioner for the Armed Forces to import 400,000 ammunition after the king dissolved Parliament last year.

Lord Ma’afu  claimed the Commissioner said it was a ‘fehalaaki’ (mistake.)

Hon. Tapueluelu claimed the signing was unlawful and the Deputy Commissioner had no power to sign such letter.

Lord Ma’afu  said Mr. Caldwell did the right thing by apologising when his office made a mistake.

Lord Ma’afu said he believed the gist of the problem was that  Hon. Tapueluelu was unable to sit down together with his Commissioner of Police and talk about why he was not satisfied with his work.

The main points

  • A letter from the Privy Council’s Appointment Panel in 2015 to former Minister of Police Pohiva Tu’i’onetoa contained a request to Cabinet to confirm what it had agreed with New Zealand on the Police Commissioner’s pay.
  • The letter, which was written by former clerk of the Panel, Rosamond C. Bing, was intended to ask the government to confirm it agreed with a draft contract of the current police commissioner Steve Caldwell.
  • Fonua wanted to make sure the two governments reached a conclusion on the pay before the Panel recommended Mr. Caldwell’s appointment to the king.

For more information

Hon Lavulavu denies he told mechanical supervisor to fake TP$1 million valuation, threatens legal action

Minister of Police threatens to stop Commissioner Caldwell’s pay today

Petition complaints nothing new say police, as Commissioner works on cyclone recovery

PM denies report he said Tonga withdrew from PACER Plus

By
Kalino Latu
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Prime Minister ‘Akilisi Pohiva has denied a news media report saying he told reporters Tonga has withdrawn from PACER Plus trade deal.

The report appeared on Matangi Tonga online in March 26 after a press conference with the Prime Minister on March 23, according to a statement released to news media by the Prime Minister’s office yesterday.

The statement said:

“The article, entitled, “PM’s Cabinet incomplete”, attributed to the Hon Prime Minister the following statement, “The Prime Minister admitted that after he signed the PACERPlus (sic) Trade Agreement, it was discovered to be inappropriate and now Tonga is no longer a signatary (sic) to the PACERPlus (sic) Trade Agreement”.

“I did not make that statement during my media conference on 23 March, nor did I say anything that even suggested, or could be translated or interpreted, that Tonga was no longer a signatory to the PACER Plus Agreement,” Hon. Pohiva was quoted by his Office’s statement as saying.

The Minister of Finance Pohiva Tu’i’onetoa told Kaniva News on Wednesday, following the Matangi Tonga report,  he was unaware of any move by the government to withdraw its involvement in the PACER Plus agreement.

International reaction

The region-wide free trade agreement was signed in Tonga in June 2017.

It has been hailed by proponents as a new kind of agreement that links development to trade to boost island economies including Australia, New Zealand, Tonga, Niue, Nauru, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Kiribati, Tuvalu and Cook Islands.

The report by Matangi Tonga was republished by some international news media including Radio New Zealand International.

A spokesperson from Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade told the Radio Australia has not received any formal advice from Tonga that it is not proceeding towards ratification of the Treaty.

“They said Australia’s Foreign Minister, Julie Bishop, discussed PACER Plus and the joint interest in lifting economic growth in the region when she met with the Tongan Government on 23 March.”

A report by The Diplomat said: “The withdrawal of Tonga has the potential to derail the agreement which had been in negotiations since 2009. It was envisioned as the centerpiece of a new regional trading and strategic framework. Tonga now joins the two largest Pacific economies (aside from Australia and New Zealand), Papua New Guinea (PNG) and Fiji in being non-signatories to PACER Plus.”

Auckland woman pleads guilty to three charges of unlawful immigration advice

By
Kaniva Staff
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An Auckland woman has pleaded guilty to three charges laid by the Immigration Advisers Authority (IAA) of unlawfully asking for a fee for immigration advice, and taking payment, from four of her family members and friends in the Tongan community.

Lealeifuaneva Linda Moala appeared in the Manukau District Court on Thursday 29 and has been remanded on bail to reappear before court on 28 June 2018.

Ms Moala pleaded guilty to two charges under the Immigration Advisers Licencing Act 2007.

She asked for a fee for the provision of immigration advice knowing she was neither licensed nor exempt.

She also pleaded guilty to one charge under the Crimes Act 1961 of obtaining a payment by deception. She led the victims to believe she was an Immigration Officer, when she was not.

The Registrar of Immigration Advisers, Catherine Albiston, said: “The facts in this case are another example of someone taking advantage of Tongan and Pacific people who are in a tough spot. We’ll continue to actively investigate and prosecute offenders like Ms Moala.”

“The IAA hope that cases like this will raise awareness amongst Pacific communities in New Zealand, as well as in Tonga, Samoa and Fiji, that it is not acceptable to provide unlawful immigration advice.

“If people need help with a visa application, they should only use a licensed immigration adviser or exempt person such as a current New Zealand lawyer,” says Ms Albiston.

The IAA’s online register of licensed advisers is available for those who want to search for a licensed immigration adviser. More information on the IAA can be found at www.iaa.govt.nz.

The IAA looks into all complaints made by the public about unlicensed immigration advice. Individuals found breaking the law can face up to seven years in prison and a fine of up to NZD$100,000.

Editor’s note:

In a previous version of this story we said the accused is Tongan. We have just learnt from a very reliable source that she is not Tongan. In fact she married to a Tongan man.

New woman magistrate appointed

By
Kaniva Staff
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‘Elisapeti Makoni Lavakei’aho Langi has been sworn-in as a senior magistrate on March 29.

Her family, relatives and friends celebrated her achievement online.

“To God be the glory, great things he hath done! Thank you everyone for the kind words of love and support. It is impossible to name all. Just know I am deeply grateful to each and every one who stopped by with well wishes and words of encouragement,” Langi wrote on Facebook.  

Langi worked as an Assistant Senior Crown Counsel at the Attorney General’s Office.

She is the second woman to be appointed to the position.

Vusenga Helu was the first Tongan woman magistrate.

King leaves Tonga as decision on Police Commissioner’s contract deferred, says Minister

By
Kalino Latu
-

A royal decision on whether King Tupou VI would approve his Appointment Panel’s  recommendation to extend the Police Commissioner’s contract had been deferred.

The decision was expected to be made this week.

This meant the Police Commissioner Steve Caldwell’s request to extend his contract has not yet been approved.

The king has left for Australia on Wednesday.

The Minister of Police, Mateni Tapueluelu, said the Privy Council has given Mr. Caldwell seven days to respond to Cabinet’s recommendation not to extend his contract.

Hon. Tapueluelu said New Zealand, which is paying for the majority of Mr Caldwell’s salary, has told the Privy Council’s Judicial and Appointment Panel its contribution to the Commissioner’s pay would depend on Tonga’s Cabinet.

The Minister said in Tongan: “Ne fakaha ‘e NZ ki he Judicial Panel te nau tali pee ‘a e ‘omai e vahe ‘a e Komisiona Polisi kapau ‘e kole pe request ‘e he Kapineti. And we are not.”

This translates into English as: “New Zealand told the Judicial Panel they would only pay for the Police Commissioner if the Cabinet made a request. And we are not.”

Judicial review

Hon. Tapueluelu told Kaniva News if the Judicial Appointment Panel forced Cabinet to pay Mr. Caldwell, Cabinet might file for a judicial review of the decision.

“We are firm on this,” he said.

Hon. Tapueluelu said the constitution gave the king power to appoint the Police Commissioner after he received advice from his Judicial Appointment Panel. He has the power to determine his term of appointment and also he has the power to dismiss them.

The Cabinet has the power to pay the Commissioner through its Remuneration Authority, he said.

He said budget had been prepared by the government and submitted to Parliament to be passed.

Contract

Mr. Caldwell was appointed Tonga’s Police commissioner in 2015 on a three-year contract which will end next month.

However,  he is entitled to another one year extension of his contract.

Hon. Tapueluelu said he wanted Mr. Caldwell to go after his first three terms ended as his treatment of suspended officers were not fair and square.

A spokesperson for Mr. Caldwell told Kaniva News the suspension of police officers “were for good reasons.”

She said the commissioner was restricted by his contract on what he could speak to the public.

As Kaniva News reported, Hon. Tapueluelu threatened to stop Mr. Caldwell’s pay if the Privy Council approved his request to extend his contract.

As we reported earlier, the Privy Council’s Judicial Appointment and Discipline Panel had asked the government to ask New Zealand for more money to pay for the Police Commissioner.

Hon. Tapueluelu said the government told New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and her delegation during a bilateral meeting in Tonga that it did not want the Police Commissioner’s contract extended.

For more information

Petition complaints nothing new say police, as Commissioner works on cyclone recovery

Vatican denies Pope says hell doesn’t exist

By
Kalino Latu
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By Daily Mail

The Pope has been sensationally quoted as saying hell does not exist and souls not worthy of heaven merely disappear instead of being tormented.

But the Vatican quickly denied the apparent dramatic theological shift, accusing atheist reporter Eugenio Scalfari of ‘reconstructing’ his words.

Catholic teaching dictates that ‘immediately after death the souls of those who die in a state of mortal sin descend into hell’.

Scalfari, 93, in his fifth interview of Pope Francis published in La Repubblica, asked what happened to ‘bad souls’ after their bodies died.

‘They are not punished, those who repent obtain the forgiveness of God and enter the rank of souls who contemplate him, but those who do not repent and cannot therefore be forgiven disappear,’ he quoted the Pope as replying.

‘There is no hell, there is the disappearance of sinful souls.’

The Vatican on Thursday said the Italian journalist and the Pope had a private meeting but claimed it was ‘without giving him any interview’.

‘What is reported by the author in today’s article is the result of his reconstruction, in which the literal words pronounced by the Pope are not quoted,’ it said.

‘No quotation of the aforementioned article must therefore be considered as a faithful transcription of the words of the Holy Father.’

The Holy See pointed out that Pope Francis previously mentioned hell in a March 2014 prayer vigil calling on mafia members to change their lives.

‘While there is still time, so that you do not end up in hell. That is what awaits you if you continue on this path,’ he said then.

Scalfari has previously been accused of contorting the Pope’s words in previous meetings, dude to his unconventional style of not taking notes.

‘I try to understand the person I am interviewing, and after that I write his answers with my own words,’ he said after a 2013 incident.

He at that point reported the Pope told him: ‘Everyone has his own idea of good and evil and must choose to follow the good and fight evil as he conceives them.’

Scalfari afterwards conceded that as a result ‘some of the Pope’s words I reported, were not shared by Pope Francis.’

The following year Vatican officials even questioned whether reports of interviews with the Pope by atheist reporters could ever be trusted.

Scalfari’s report came a day before the Pope urged priests to be spiritually closer to adulterers and to not preach Holy laws at people but instead tell them when they sin.

Pope Francis shared the guidance during Holy Thursday Mass which is meant to show the unity of the Catholic Church during the pre-Easter period.

He called on priests to be close to their flocks and to do more than just preach laws at them when they sin.

In his homily, Francis also said that priests should help adulterers look forward and not condemn them with legalism.

The pope warned that priests must not be tempted to ‘idolise’ church law and doctrine, to ensure that as many ordinary people remain close to Jesus as possible.

Francis stressed the need to not judge adulterers too harshly and also called on priests to be patient with them, even if it meant continuously stressing the wrongness of the sin to them.

Pope Francis delivered the speech as he celebrated a Chrism Mass inside St. Peter’s Basilica, at the Vatican.

During the Mass the pontiff blesses a token amount of oil that will be used to administer the sacraments for the year.

The holy oil is contained in an amphora that the Pope blows into during the ceremony.

The surprising words came after conservatives complained that Francis is dividing the church with his opening to letting divorced and civilly remarried Catholics to receive Communion.

Critics say Francis is disregarding church law about the indissolubility of marriage by effectively allowing adulterers access to the sacraments.

Francis appeared to be hitting back at the criticism with his Holy Thursday Mass, choosing specifically to preach about how priests should accompany adulterers during a Mass meant to demonstrate the unity of priests with their bishops.

He told priests in St. Peter’s Basilica that Jesus wasn’t disregarding the law when, in the Biblical story, he refused to condemn an adulterer when he found her.

Francis said priests can tell adulterers not to sin again, but using a non-legalistic tone that allows the sinner ‘to look forward and not backward.’

‘The correct tone is that of the confessor who is prepared to repeat it 70 times seven,’ he said.

Holy Thursday marks the start of an intense four days of activity leading up to Easter Sunday, including the Thursday afternoon ritual washing of the feet of 12 people, which Francis will perform at Rome’s central Regina Coeli prison.

The 12 inmates include Catholics, Muslims, an Orthodox Christian and a Buddhist, the Vatican said. They hail from Italy, the Philippines, Morocco, Moldova, Colombia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone.

On Friday, Francis presides over the Way of the Cross procession at Rome’s Colosseum re-enacting Christ’s crucifixion.

On Saturday night, he celebrates the solemn Easter Vigil in St. Peter’s Basilica, followed by the joyful Easter Sunday Mass marking Christ’s resurrection.

The Pope has been criticised by some conservatives for allowing some divorced and remarried Catholics receive communion.

Last year, the pope replaced Cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Mueller who was the Church’s hardline doctrinal watchdog.

The former Cardinal had publicly clashed with the Pope over divorce reforms.

Francis had produced a papal treatise called ‘The Joy of Love’, which was an attempt to make the Catholic Church more inclusive and less condemning.

In the document the pontiff sided with progressive proposal to allow some divorced and remarried Catholics to receive communion.

This horrified traditionalists, who believed divorcing and remarrying was adultery and therefore a sin.

High speed internet arrives in Ha’apai

By
Kaniva Staff
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The high-speed single high performance fiber network is now available in the Ha’apai groups.

The communication system now can handle millions of phone calls at a time and internet users could connect to outside world in the same speed their families could use in New Zealand and Australia as well as in the United States.

This was part of a project which was launched in Nuku’alofa in 2013 after the submarine optic fibre cable connected Fiji to Tonga in 2012.

The TOP$18 million project for Ha’apai was jointly paid by the Tongan government, ADB and World Bank.

The Prime Minister, Hon Samuela ‘Akilisi Pohiva, launched the arrival of the submarine optic fibre cable in Pangai, Ha’apai on Tuesday morning, 27 March 2018. The submarine cable had been laid on the seabed beginning from Nuku’alofa.

The Hon Prime Minister said: “One of the developmental goals of the Tonga Government had been to empower the people, especially those in the outer island s of Ha’apai and Vava’u, by making the latest information and communications technology accessible to them. In addition the Government also wants to ensure that the latest technology is the fastest, user friendly and above all, it should be as cheap as possible, so that everyone can access it”.

The former CEO of Tonga Cable Ltd, Mr. Robert Bolouri said that the Submarine Optic Fibre Cable had been laid from Fiji to Tonga starting in 2012 and it was launched in Nuku’alofa in September 2013 by His Majest King Tupou VI.

He said there was some money left over and the Tonga Government then applied to the two banks for permission to use the surplus to connect Ha’apai and Vava’u to the optic fibre cable.

The two banks gave their approval in June 2017, after the Tonga Government had invested its own money in the project from the proceeds of the sale of some of its shares in the Digicel Tonga Ltd. Tonga’s investment brought the total amount of money available for the connection to Ha’apai and Vava’u to US$8.3 million (TOP$18 million).

Actual work on the laying of the cable from Nuku’alofa to Ha’apai and Vava’u began on 27 December 2017 and reached Pangai, Ha’apai on 2 January 2018. Tonga Cable Ltd then connected their system in Ha’apai to the cable at their base which is adjacent to the FWCT compound at Pulela’aa in Pangai.

Mr. Bolouri said that the arrival of the optic fibre cable in Pangai had boosted the capacity of the communications systems in Ha’apai by 1.2 tetrabits. He illustrated that new capacity by saying, “Now the system in Ha’apai can handle 12 million phone calls at the same time. That is an enormous capacity for Ha’apai and also for Vava’u!”

The Hon Prime Minister also said: “The new technology in the form of this optic fibre cable has brought down the geographical barriers that divided Tongatapu from the outer islands and from now on the people of Ha’apai should enjoy the same types of benefits for education, medical and social purposes that the people of Tongatapu currently enjoy from this expansion of capacity”.

Gov’t denies allegation Lord Ma’afu was reinstated to cabinet

By
Kalino Latu
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The government has denied allegation that Lord Ma’afu has been reinstated into cabinet.

The king’s noble resigned early this month as Tonga’s Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, as well as the Minister responsible for His Majesty’s Armed Forces.

“Lord Ma’afu has not been reinstated into Cabinet,” Lopeti Senituli, the Prime Minister’s media advisor told Kaniva News.

The allegation about the reinstatement appeared to have come from one of the few Tongan propagandic groups on Facebook which regularly posted fake news against Prime Minister ‘Akilisi Pohiva’s government.

It said Lord Ma’afu was reappointed after the king rejected his resignation.

The Minister of Police Mateni Tapueluelu said there was no clause in the Tongan constitution to give the king powers to make such a decision.

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