Toxic chemicals from used super heavy duty batteries and diapers could affect drinking water and food, the Tongan Parliament was told last week.

People dumped these items as rubbish on tax allotments without the owners’ permission.

The Education Minister, Hon. Penisimani Fifita, said he was surprised when he saw this kind of rubbish being dumped in his tax allotment in Hahake.

He said he was concerned that the toxic chemicals could leach into the soil and contaminate drinking groundwater causing serious health problems.

The Minister was making the comment before the House approved new regulations to control the way people dispose of their rubbish, penalising those who do not do the right thing.

The law has made burning rubbish and waste on private property a crime.

The Deputy Prime Minister said if neighbours complained because rubbish burning affected them, law enforcement officers would first alert and warn the offender about the complaint.

Some MPs were concerned that the law could make fei’umu (baking food in an open ground oven) on Sundays unlawful.

They said the whole of Tonga made ‘umu on Sundays,  but the Deputy Prime Minster said it was excluded in the law.

Most Members of Parliament agreed that the regulation was of great importance for Tonga.

However some were concerned at the high penalty fines imposed including fines of TP$2000-5000 for disposing of dangerous waste.

However, Minister of Law Vuna Fa’otusia told the House not to panic.

He said the judges were professional and they would consider the offences and the affordability of the offenders before they fined them.

Littering

Littering was already a criminal offense in Tonga punishable with a fine as set out by statutes for the public, but it was not enforced, the Deputy Prime Minister told the House.

The Deputy Prime Minister, who is responsible to the Ministry of Environment and Waste Management said this was because the government wanted to consult with the public on the clauses of the regulation including the way the fines were imposed on spot before an offender could be taken to courts.

New regulations came into force in May last year to penalise people who do not dispose of their rubbish properly.

Under the Environment Management (Litter and Waste Control) Regulations 2016 police, environment officers, health inspectors and other designated officers, can issue notifications to clean up dumped waste or cease burning. They can also give on-the-spot fines to offenders.

The main points

• Toxic chemicals from used super heavy duty batteries and diapers could affect drinking water and food, the Tongan Parliament was told last week.
• People dumped these items as rubbish on tax allotments without the owners’ permission.
• The Education Minister, Hon. Penisimani Fifita, said he was surprised when he saw this kind of rubbish being dumped in his tax allotment in Hahake.
• He said he was concerned that the toxic chemicals could leach into the soil and contaminate drinking groundwater causing serious health problems.

For more information

New litter and waste control regulation

Professional news media were told to stop taking photos at the former All Black Sione Lauaki’s burial service this afternoon amid claims they had been banned by the rugby number eight’s family.

Dr Viliami Tūtone, the family’s ‘ulumotu’a (head of Lauaki’s paternal clan) warmly greeted Kaniva Tonga News at the Waikumete cemetery shortly after the arrival of Lauaki’s coffin and informed them about the ban.

It was not immediately clear whether or not the ban included social media as while Dr Tūtone was talking to Kaniva, some of the mourners were busy taking photos at the scene with their cellphones.

Dr Tūtone said he was just doing his job and let us know about the family’s wish. He would not provide any reasons for the ban.

Dr Tutone said the palangi media had been informed.

He asked to respect the family’s decision.

Today’s farewell service at the Glen Eden’s cemetery was attended by hundreds of mourners in a ceremony that began with a religious service at the Te Atu Church Unlimited this morning at 10am.

The Rugby World was represented at the services by Ian Foster.

The memorial service was conducted by the Mo’ui Fo’ou ‘Ia Kalasi church.

Lauaki, 35, died on Sunday after suffering from renal failure and cardiovascular problems.

He was born in June 22, 1981 in Tonga before he relocated to New Zealand when he was eight.

An internship with Auckland Council has taught a Tongan law student from Waikato University the importance of building relationship in an organisation.

Ana Tupou, 28, was placed with the Council as part of the Pacific Cooperation Foundation’s summer internship programme.

She has been interning at Auckland Council as part of a team working on legal compliance.

Tupou told the PCF Newsletter the internship had given her more than what she originally expected.

“This internship has definitely prepared me for getting into the workplace.”

When Tupou completes her studies next year, she hopes to return to Tonga, and implement some of the innovative systems and processes she has learnt during her placement.

Having witnessed how Auckland Council interacts with its staff, the law student is determined to take what she has learnt back to Tonga.

“From day one I felt like a part of the team and with that came responsibilities,” Tupou said.”

“The leadership skills and team work is almost unbelievable.

“I’ve seen how much relationship building and transparency is crucial in the organisation,” she adds.

Ana recommends future interns and student peers to make the most of opportunities such as the one provided through PCF’s Summer Internship.

“What you put into the internship is what you get out of it,” she said.

The main points

• An internship with Auckland Council has taught a Tongan law student from Waikato University the importance of building relationship in an organisation.
• Ana Tupou, 28, was placed with the Council as part of the Pacific Cooperation Foundation’s summer internship programme.
• She has been interning at Auckland Council as part of a team working on legal compliance.
• “This internship has definitely prepared me for getting into the workplace,” she said.

For more information

A Lawyer in the Making

In picture: (L-R) John Pulu and Stan Walker. Photo by John Pulu, Tangata Pasifika
The Australian-born New Zealand winner of the Australian Idol, Stan Walker was performing live tonight at the new Tanoa Dateline International hotel.

Photos uploaded to Facebook by the New Zealand’s Tangata Pasifika correspondent John Pulu who was the Masters of Ceremony during the events showed Walker and his band had appeared on stage.

Walker tweeted this afternoon and said: “We here & we performing tonight…”.

We here & we performing tonight… gonna perform my new single “MESSAGES” out in 7 days #SWmessages pic.twitter.com/cv9mtBlaIg

— Stan Walker (@1stanwalker) February 17, 2017

He was performing at an evening champagne reception held to celebrate the launch, which was attended by Deputy Prime Minister Siaosi Sovaleni and members of the royal family.

His Majesty King Tupou VI officially launched the kingdom’s new largest hotel on Thursday 16.

The 122-room hotel with Bar Cafe represents a multi-million investment and has created about 100 new jobs in the Friendly Islands.

The celebration was also attended by a New Zealand business delegation led by the country’s Ambassador for Pacific Economic Development, Shane Jones.

Jones told guests at the opening ceremony he was glad to see Tonga’s tourist accommodation services had acquired a four star hotel.

He said he knew about the owner, the Reddy Group because they have nine other hotels in the Pacific including two in New Zealand.

Prime Minister Samuela ‘Akilisi Pohiva said the government saw the new venture as a great economic opportunity for Tonga.

“Our role in government is to create appropriate supporting domestic policy environment to facilitate economic growth. As a matter of fact we need a strong and solid foundation on which to build our economy,” he said.

He said the national hotel, which was formerly known as Dateline International hotel “was in a poor condition” when government undertook to search for a foreign hotel investor.

“Project’s aim is on direct corresponds contributing to our economic development as stated in the Tonga Strategic Development Framework, the government continues to seek to achieve inclusive and sustainable growth through the promotional of economic growth and for further strengthening of business in Tonga,” Hon Pohiva said.

Reddy Group Managing Director Mr. Rohit Reddy said: “Our journey began some four years ago when it reaches our interests in this hotel with lots of negotiation we finally concluded a deal with the Government of Tonga in March 2015. This project has been an extremely difficult project for us which requires lots of patient”.

A Tongan father who uploaded live footage of his son being born to Facebook last year has lost a fight to claim copyright on the video.

Kali Kanongataa has tried to stop companies using the video, claiming this infringed on his copyright of the video, but a Manhattan court closed the case closed on Wednesday (February 15).

Kanongataa had filed a series of lawsuits to try to stop other people using the video.

As Kaniva News reported last May, Kanongataa uploaded video of his son’s birth through Facebook Live.

The American television programme Good Morning America showed a brief, 22-second excerpt from the 45-minute video.

A snippet of the video also appeared on a  number of websites and television stations in the United States.

Kanongataa, who is originally from Nuku’alofa, but lives in California, later said he thought his family in Tonga would be able to view the video, but didn’t expect it to be seen by the public at large.

The ABC television network argued before Judge Lewis Kaplan that it had a “fair use” right to show a portion of the clip in conjunction with an item about the growth of live-streaming.

ABC said it had used the clip of the birth to report on a socially significant and newsworthy event.

Kanongataʻa, who goes by the name Fakamalo Ki He ʻEiki on Facebook said he accidentally posted the video to Facebook Live.

He said his intention had been to share with his close family in Tonga.

“I didn’t notice it was on the public feed until someone said ‘Push, Push’ and it was my little cousin,” Kanongataʻa said.

When we ran our story in May last year it had already been seen by more than 300,000 people.

The main points

• A Tongan father who uploaded live footage of his son being born to Facebook last year has lost a fight to claim copyright on the video.
• Kali Kanongataa has tried to stop people using the video, claiming those infringed on his copyright of the video, but a federal court in Manhattan closed the case closed on Wednesday (February 15).
• Kanongataa had filed a series of lawsuits to try to stop other people using the video.
• As Kaniva News reported last May, Kanongataa uploaded video of his son’s birth through Facebook Live.

For more information

Tongan father live stream of son’s birth on Facebook goes viral

Father Who Live Streamed Son’s Birth Loses Copyright Battle