Tourism Minister Semisi Sika could face a legal challenge after claims he took over the board of tourism authority without a Board resolution.
The Chair of the Board Tomifa Paea claimed the Minister’s decision to end their three-year contract with Tourism was illegal.
Paea said the cabinet has yet to make an official decision on their dismissal by Sika.
He claimed Sika’s decision for the acting manager to cease any further contacts with the Board was illegal and that a letter he sent to the bank to change the authorizing signatures for the bank account was made without a Board resolution.
He also claimed Sika has direct conflict of interest with the Tonga Tourism Authority Act 2012 as its business operation is to be independent from the government.
Because of what had happened the BSP Bank has frozen the Tourism’s account, according to Paea.
Tomifā Paea
In a letter received by Kaniva News which was circulated to cabinet ministers and Tourism Authority directors Paea said the Tonga Tourism Authority Board approved a resolution on 21 July 2016 to lodge a formal complaint against Sika, the Acting CEO and the Acting Manager of the Ministry.
We had received no response from the Minister when this story was written.
The letter of complaint on July 22 was addressed to the Commissioner of Public Relation ‘Aisea Taumoepeau and was signed by Paea as Chair of the Board.
Paea also claimed that at one stage he and the board members were told to leave the Tourism office and were threatened that Police would be called to deal with them.
He claimed that Sika planned to takeover the board when he became the Minister of Tourism and Infrastructure.
Paea said he “still strongly support Akilisi and his government” and if the cabinet stood by Sika’s decision it would not bother him but he did not accept the minister’s interference with Board matters without following the rules and policy.
Hon Sika was appointed as Tourism Minister on April 18.
Paea was elected chair of the Board by the outgoing MP and Tourism Minister ‘Etutate Lavulavu who lost his seat in Parliament early this year.
Tonga’s National Reserve Bank has announced that it has revoked the Pacific International Commercial Bank’s (PICB) license with immediate effect today Tuesday 27.
The Reserve Bank has “advised the public not to transact with any business or person purporting to trade in the name Pacific International Commercial Bank”.
“Members of the public will be advised later of the procedure for the payout of any amount owing to depositors and creditors”, NRB said.
In early 2015 an application had been placed before the Tongan Supreme Court to hear a case brought by Nukuʻalofa Investment Ltd for liquidating the bank.
The PICB was established after Her Royal Highness Princess Pilolevu led a delegation of Tongan business agents to China in 2010 and began operating on April 7, 2014. It was officially opened in Nuku’alofa by His Majesty King Tupou VI.
Chinese millionaire Mr Jianhua Hu promised the bank would help boost the country’s economy and brings more overseas investors to Tonga.
At the time the bank promised it would set its interest rates at six percent, the lowest rate in the kingdom.
A number of sources, including International Banker have described Princess Pilolevu and Jianhua Hu as major shareholders of the bank.
However, Kaniva News has been informed by a spokesman for the Princess that she holds only eight percent of the shares in the bank.
According to the Tongan Business Registry and other sources, the Princess was a director of the bank until April 8, 2013.
The deceased body of a 56-year-old Canadian woman who was found dead in a yacht they owned with her husband in Vavaʻu on July 7 is still at the Vaiola hospital mortuary.
The case is still under police investigation, Health CEO Dr Siale ‘Akauʻola said yesterday.
The deceased’s husband from Florida, United States, appeared at the Neiafu court on July 11 charged with the manslaughter of his wife.
The accused remains in Police custody. Police have also seized and impounded the yacht – the Sea Oak.
Earlier reports said the husband told Police he found her wife dead when he went to wake her up.
The couple arrived in Neiafu on May 26.
While in Vavaʻu they were staying in their yacht and were expected to depart Tonga next month on August 21.
The Minister of Health, Dr. Saia Piukala, has described comments posted on Facebook about a hip operation on a young girl as derogatory and based on ignorance.
He said he was deeply concerned at the level of negative comments the people made about the Ministry as it greatly affect the morale of his staff.
The online comments were made after a young girl from Pangaimotu underwent hip surgery in Tonga and then underwent further surgery in New Zealand.
The girl suffered from Slipped Capital Femoral Epiphysis (SCFE), a condition that requires surgery to stop the head of the femur (thigh bone) from slipping out of alignment.
Surgeons in Tonga performed the surgery on the girl and a screw was used before the girl was released to her home in Vava’u.
Dr. Piukala said the use of a screw was standard and was used in many hospitals in New Zealand, Australia and the United States.
The metal screw was to make sure it kept the femur in position.
However, a group of Lottery volunteers from New Zealand visited Pangaimotu after the girl returned from surgery and noticed she was limping.
They volunteered to take her to New Zealand for further treatment.
During surgery in Hamilton the screw that had been used in Tonga was removed.
After the operation a photo purporting to show the screw that was used in the young girl’s hip was posted to Facebook.
The poster implied that the girl’s parents were shocked to learn that a screw had been inserted into their daughter’s body by the Tongan surgeons.
This has sent shock waves among Facebook users and triggered a series of heated debate across social media.
Some questioned the academic and professional background of the Tongan surgeons, why a screw had been used in the treatment of the girl and whether her limping had been caused by the screw.
Dr. Piukala said the screw was specially manufactured to be used in such operations.
He said if the girl had been sent to New Zealand for her initial treatment the surgeons would have used the same screw to help relieve her condition.
Illustration and x-ray of in situ fixation. A single screw is inserted to prevent any further slip of the femoral head through the growth plate. (Left) Courtesy of John Killian, MD, Birmingham, AL. (Right) Reproduced from Weber MD, Naujoks R, Smith BG: Slipped capital femoral epiphysis. Orthopaedic Knowledge Online Journal 2008; 6(2). Accessed June 2016.
Description
According to the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) SCFE or Slipped Capital Femoral Epiphysis is the most common hip disorder in adolescents. In SCFE, the epiphysis, or head of the femur (thighbone), slips down and backwards off the neck of the bone at the growth plate, the weaker area of bone that has not yet developed.
The AAOS said CFE usually developed during periods of rapid growth, shortly after the onset of puberty. In boys, this most commonly occurred between the ages of 12 and 16; in girls, between the ages of 10 and 14.
Sometimes SCFE occurred suddenly after a minor fall or trauma. More often, however, the condition developed gradually over several weeks or months, with no previous injury.
Treatment
“The goal of treatment is to prevent the mildly displaced femoral head from slipping any further. This is always accomplished through surgery,†the AAOS said.
“Early diagnosis of SCFE provides the best chance of stabilizing the hip and avoiding complications. When treated early and appropriately, long-term hip function can be expected to be very good.â€
Procedures
Surgery to deal with SCFE includes a procedure known as in situ fixation which is usually used for patients with a mild or stable condition. In this procedure the surgeon makes a small incision near the hip, then inserts a metal screw across the growth plate to maintain the position of the femoral head and prevent any further slippage.
According to the AAOS, over time, the growth plate will close, or fuse. Once the growth plate is closed, no further slippage can occur.
The main points
The Minister of Health, Dr. Said Piukala, has described comments posted on Facebook about a hip operation on a young girl as irrational, derogatory and based on ignorance.
He said he was deeply concerned at the level of negative comments the people made about the Ministry as it greatly affect the morale of his staff.
The online comments were made after a young girl from Pangaimotu underwent hip surgery in Tonga and then underwent further surgery in New Zealand.
The girl suffered from Slipped Capital Femoral Epiphysis (SCFE), a condition that requires surgery to stop the head of the femur (thigh bone) from slipping out of alignment.
Tongan police are investigating a brawl in a bush allotment in Niutoua, which led to two men being hospitalised on Sunday 24.
The men, in their 30s and 40s, received serious injuries but in stable condition after they were attacked with a machete and a piece of wood, Police said.
They said several people were involved in the drunken brawl after an argument broke out between the two men.
Police alleged a man left the fight and returned with the machete.
He allegedly attacked another man before another man was believed to have attacked him with the piece of timber.
No charges have been laid and Police investigation continues.
Tonga’s Department of Quarantine has offered a TP$100 reward to anyone who can help find the two mongooses still missing in Tonga.
Following leads from the public the department collected furs and remains of what they believed were of a dead animal in Kolofoʻou early this month.
The remains were sent to New Zealand for scientific examination and to confirm whether or not they belonged to the mongooses.
But these have since been officially declared as cat remains, Quarantine Department spokesperson Graham Malaʻefoʻou said.
Six mongooses made their way into the kingdom through a container of paints that was shipped from Fiji.
Three of the mammals were found dead and the other three escaped when the container was opened on June 8.
One of the escapees was eventually cornered and recaptured while the other two still missing.
“Anyone who can find the mongooses “dead or alive” will get the $100″, Malaʻefoʻou said.
Mongoose
Mongooses are not native to Tonga. The mammals were first introduced into the kingdom’s neighbouring country Fiji in 1883 to control rats in sugar cane fields.
According to the National Geographic website mongooses are primarily found in Africa.
Ranging in size from the 7-inch-long (18-centimeter-long) dwarf mongoose to the 2-foot-long (60-centimeter-long) Egyptian mongoose; these sleek mammals have long bodies with short legs and tapered snouts.
They normally have brown or gray grizzled fur, and a number of species sport striped coats or ringed tails.
The US Immigration authorities have arrested a Tongan man who was convicted of assault with a deadly weapon.
The arrest was part of an operation sting that saw 112 people arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in a four-day operation in Los Angeles and other counties.
The operation ended Thursday last week.
“Those with deportation orders could return to their countries immediately, while the rest will go before an immigration judge”, Californian media reported.
“Many of those arrested had been released from jail under a 2014 state law that prevents local law enforcement agencies from holding immigrants convicted of lesser crimes once they serve their sentences, ICE Deputy Field Director David Marin told the Los Angeles Times”.
In some cases, immigration officials take custody of convicts upon their release from jails in California. In others, the convicts are released into the community and immigration agents go out to re-arrest them, as they did this week.
Ten men and teenagers, some as young as 14 have been arrested and charged with the manslaughter of ʻAlani Fuapau after an incident on July 9 in Nukuʻalofa.
A funeral service was held today July 25 for the 19-year-old Fuapau of Sopu who died in hospital on July 17 after he was in coma for eight days.
Tongan Police said today the accused were all from the village of Kahoua in Tongatapu.
Police began arresting the accused over the weekend with the last arrest made on Sunday, July 24.
They all remain in custody to appear at the Nukuʻalofa Magistrate’s Court today.
Prime Minister John Key today announced Tonga Prime Minister Samuela ‘Akilisi Pohiva will visit New Zealand later this week.
“I am very pleased to welcome Mr Pohiva to New Zealand on his first official visit as Prime Minister,” Mr Key says.
“New Zealand and Tonga have a strong relationship, built around our long history of cooperation and the significant Tongan population in New Zealand.
“As one of our closest neighbours, working together to advance Tonga’s development objectives with support from our aid programme is a key priority,” Mr Key says.
Mr Pohiva will visit New Zealand between 27 – 30 July and will be formally welcomed in a ceremony at Government House in Auckland on 28 July.
During his visit Mr Pohiva will take part in a wreath laying ceremony at Auckland War Memorial Museum and visit Tongan workers in Nelson who are part of the Recognised Seasonal Employers scheme.
