The Tongan Police had destroyed large quantity of marijuana seized in ‘Eua, today.

The dried leaves of 458 plants were burned at the Tapuhia waste management facility.

Police have released still photos and video of the largest single amount of cannabis to ever be seized by Tonga Police.

Last Thursday, officers from the Police Tactical Response Group and Drug Squad teams uprooted and seized 458 illegal cannabis plants during a search warrant in ‘Eua.

The large-scale Police operation continued on Friday, when officers seized a further 58 cannabis plants (34 growing, 24 already uprooted), 2 sacks filled with cannabis leaf, a bottle filled with cannabis seeds and a packet of dry cannabis leaf.

Two men have been charged in relation to last week’s record seizures and are before the courts on drugs and firearms-related charges.

Previous cannabis seizures have involved less than four hundred plants, which were not fully grown. The drugs had an estimated street value of more than TOP$200 000.

They were destroyed earlier today at Tapuhia under strict conditions, witnessed by several independent persons.

Representatives from the Office of the Auditor General and the Ministry of Health attended, as did the Kolofo’ou District Officer and the Kolomotu’a Town Officer.

The cannabis was removed from the shipping container and transported via two Police vehicles to Tapuhia, where it was destroyed.

“The social harm caused by drugs to the community is immense. Drugs don’t just harm the users, but their families and their communities. It’s the money that was spent on drugs, that was supposed to buy food and clothes for a man’s family. It’s the person who has their possessions stolen by someone who wants to swap them to buy drugs – the harm caused by drugs affects us all” says Commissioner Caldwell.

“The destruction of these drugs should send a clear message to anyone involved in the cultivation, supply and distribution of illegal drugs – you will be caught. We are committed to disrupting illegal drug activity in Tonga – there is no place for this in our country” he says.

Anyone who has concerns or suspicions about illegal drug activity in their town is encouraged to report this to the Police Drug Squad on 26497 or 23083.

Information can also be given anonymously to the Police Intelligence Unit on 23197.

The Auditor General’s office has recommended that the ‘Unuaki ‘o Tonga Royal Institute be referred to the police after massive discrepancies were found in its accounts.

The Institute, which began operations in 2004, was set up by disgraced former politician and Minister for Infrastructure, Etuate Lavulavu.

The Auditor General’s office said hundreds of students supposedly attending the private school could not be identified and that the Institute should repay TP$553,800 to the Technical  Vocational Education and Training fund (TVET).

The report said some of the information used to create students’ identities appeared to have been taken from students who attended training programmes at the Ministry of Infrastructure, Lavulavu’s former portfolio.

The TVET payments had been made based on claims made by the Institute.

The Auditor General’s report said the Institute claimed to have lent students TP$670 for their fees, when these were only TP$100. It also claimed to have offered places in exchange for food and labour, but no proper records were kept and the report concluded these claims led to a significant overpayment of TVET funds.

It said the government should ensure that the Institute and its courses were properly approved before any further payments were made.

The report said a total of 915 students supposedly attending the school, and for which the Institute as receiving funding, could not be identified.

Of these:

• 38 said they had no idea how their names came to be on the school lists
• 234 were found to have either not paid fees or attended the school
• 643 names appearing the Institute records, but could not be located. Residential addresses were wrong or non-existent, some had migrated and some were Mormon missionaries.

Lavulavu told Kaniva News he rejected the report and threatened to take legal action against the Auditor General.

Lavulavu said he was “disappointed” the Auditor General’s office did not give him and his school a chance to discuss the report.

The current director of the school is his wife, Akosita Lavulavu, who was elected as MP for  Vava’u No. 16 seat after he lost his seat.

In 2003 Matangi Tonga reported that the Institute would offer Form 5 level English graduates the opportunity to either study Foundation Level, Form 7, or to take a technical course at the Institute.

In September this year the ‘Unuaki ‘o Tonga Royal Institute finally complied with a court order to  move out of the Tonga National Cultural Centre from which it had been operating for several years.

Head of the Cultural and Youth Division of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Pulupaki Ika, told the Tonga Broadcasting Corporation the ministry was trying to recover pictures and artefacts that had been removed from the former museum.

In 2009 Lavulavu signed an agreement for the privatization of the Centre and began running the Institute out of it, along with several tourism businesses.

The Government eventually ordered the ‘Unuaki ‘o Tonga to vacate the centre, but had to resort to legal action.

As Kaniva News reported in February, Tonga’s Supreme Court convicted him of bribery and spending over the legal limit on his 2014 election campaign.

The conviction cost him his Parliamentary seat for Vava’u No. 16.

In his summary of the case, Lord Chief Justice Paulsen said Lavulavu was not a credible witness and that his evidence was implausible, evasive and untruthful.

The main points

• The Auditor General’s office has recommended that the ‘Unuaki ‘o Tonga Royal Institute be referred to the police after massive discrepancies were found in its accounts.
• The Institute, which began operations in 2004, was set up by disgraced former politician and Minister for Infrastructure, Etuate Lavulavu.
• The Auditor General’s office said hundreds of students supposedly attending the private school could not be identified and that the Institute should repay TP$553,800 to the Technical Vocational Education and Training fund.
• Lavulavu told Kaniva News he rejected the report and was “disappointed” the Auditor General’s office did not give him and his school a chance to discuss the report.

For more information                                                                        

Supreme Court finds Lavulavu guilty of bribery and calls his evidence ‘untruthful’ 

New opportunities for Tonga’s school leavers (Matangi Tonga)

Tonga National Cultural Centre returned to Government (TBC)

The Tongan-Chinese family who were struggling  to come to terms with the vicious attack of their mother had been dealt another blow.

Ellen Yu, 58, was in hospital and is now reportedly gaining consciousness after the assault on Thursday 17.

To make matters worse, their convenience store in Pahu was burgled yesterday Sunday 20 while the family were away in hospital to see their mother.

Police said they have arrested a 33-year-old man from Kanokupolu with goods believed he had stolen from the store.

Police confiscated a laptop and  cigarettes from the suspect.

He had been charged with theft and burglary and was expected to appear at Fasi Magistrate court this week.

Princess Pilolevu struggled to fight back tears when she met the motionless Chinese woman who had been brutally attacked while sleeping on Thursday morning.

Local photographer Patimiosi Ngūngūtau said he was at Vaiola hospital when the Princess arrived to see the victim and he took photos of them.

He said the Princess and her entourage were tearful as they were standing by the victim’s bedside.

The Princess was seen weeping while holding the unconscious woman’s hand.

Ellen Yu, 58, was in a serious condition after the assault and she could not be able to speak.

Police have arrested a 21-year-old man  from Pahu and charged him in connection with Yu’s attack.

The brutality of the assault heightened fears in the Chinese community in Tonga that their safety and protection were at risk.

Chinese Embassy in Nuku’alofa said Tongan-Chinese had been violently targeted.

It has called for more Police efforts to protect the community.

It has been also revealed a Chinese man was bedridden after he was king hit in his shop by a Tongan man eight months ago.

According to TVNZ report, Huang Xiun Lin suffered a very severe injury to his head after he fell and his head hit a set of shopping racks.

“Mr Lin is now bedridden and living in appalling conditions at the back of his family shop. He can’t move and is fed through a tube”, the report says.

READ MORE

Tongan Chinese Embassy call for more “Police presence” after woman brutally attacked

A car crashed into a utility pole uprooting it out of the ground in a road in Maʻufanga causing a power disruption to the area.

Police were called to the scene shortly after it had occurred yesterday Saturday 19.

A local who sent photos of the incident to Kanvia News said a man and his son returned home from their plantation when the accident happened.

No report of injuries.

Police could not be reached for  details of the accident.

Firefighters are battling a huge blaze that engulf a Chinese convenience store at Hala Vaha’akolo in Tofoa this evening.

A local told Kaniva News roads had been closed to traffic and areas close to the fire scene had been also blocked to the public.

She said there is a large Police presence at the scene.

No injuries have been reported.