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Use of king's images during coronation restricted

By
Kaniva Pacific
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Tonga’s Prime Minister Office said anyone who would like to use royal arms, portrait and images of the king and the royal family during the coronation’s celebration must seek permission from the office of the royal palace.

In a statement released today, the government gives definitive guidelines on the use of the photographs, portraits and busts of The King and Members of the Royal Family.

It summarises the legal position governing the use, for commercial purposes, distribution and public use of the photographs and portraits of The King and Members of the Royal Family.

“The requests for the use of images, photos or portraits of the Royal Family on bulletin boards, buildings or archways, must first seek the prior written permission of the Office of the Lord Chamberlain, Palace Office” the statement says.

It says “the use of His Majesty’s Royal Ensign (Flag) and Cypher (logo) is restricted for the use of His Majesty only. The Royal Ensign (flag) signifies the presence of His Majesty and for all Royal Residences and the Royal Palace only. Therefore, all commercial sale, distribution and public use of flags during the Coronation, bearing the Royal Ensign/and cypher of His Majesty, is not authorized”.

“…the public is invited to wear respectful dress code and ta’ovala at all events venue, especially in the Nuku’alofa area”.

“The Government has received many enquiries about setting up of archways in the communities and villages – however, to ensure public safety from electrical and utility problems in the surrounding homes, the construction of archways are restricted to the Capital and the Nuku’aofa area only, where the venues of the Coronation events are located”.

The crowning of their Majesties King Tupou VI and Queen Nanasipau’u Tuku’aho’s will be on July 4 during an 11-day  coronation celebration that will start tomorrow June 27 – July 7.

Authorities decide to remove power poles on Haʻapai road

By
Kaniva Pacific
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The power poles erected by the electricity provider on the roads at Holopeka in Liffuka, Haʻapai would be removed the Governor for Haʻapai has told Kaniva News today.

Governor Moʻale Fīnau said he met with Tonga Power manager and project manager and they decided to remove the poles that erected almost in the middle of the road.

Finau said this means the power line will be connected without poles in that particular area.

Kaniva understands the poles were erected after the Ministry of Land and Survey’s surveyors found the road where the poles were erected on cut through a tax allotment.

Launch of Tongan Translated Stanford University Manual

By
Kaniva Staff
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PHOTO: Tongan-New Zealand MP Jenny Salesa during the launch. Photo/Soane Gallagher Niukapu 

The Tongan translation of the Stanford University Chronic Disease Self-Management Programme was launched earlier this month at Alliance Health Plus (AH+) by Labour MP, Jenny Salesa. The launch was completed with the blessing of the resources by Rev Kalolo Fihaki – Senior Advisor, (Ministry of Pacific Island Affairs).

The Stanford chronic disease self-management education manual (commonly referred to as the Stanford SME model) was designed to assist and equip patients and their fami­lies with the necessary tools, skills and confidence with managing their chronic health condition. Strong recommendations to translate the resource into Pacific languages came from the Tongan Health Society church groups who completed the SME workshops in 2011/12.

The launch celebrated the successful completion of a Tongan translated manual that will benefit Tongan clinicians, health workers and Tongans living with chronic conditions in New Zealand and abroad.

Manukau East Labour MP, Jenny Salesa, enjoyed the candid evening and shared fond memories of her 84 year old father who modelled healthy living as a vegetarian for over 40 years. She emphasized the vital role parents play in shaping the future of our children. “Having the highest obesity rate in the world and seeing a rising number of young people with diabetes is not something we Tongans should accept or proud of.”

Salesa went on to acknowledge the funder and the expertise that went into translating the resources, and conveyed what excited her about the manual. There is hope that these resources will not only assist and motivate our Tongan people to better manage their chronic conditions, it will further engage the efforts for the prevention of chronic diseases.

AH+ recruited a working group of experts from various fields to undertake the Tongan translation: Dr Maika Kinahoi-Veikune –Qualified Translator & Public Health Physician, Dr Viliami Tutone – Renal Specialist (Middlemore Hospital), Dr Linita Manu’atu – Senior Lecturer (AUT) provided Linguistic Specialist advice, Mrs Vaiola Ha’unga – Public Health Nurse & SME Master Trainer, Mrs Kalatiola Tonga – Proof-reader and Consumer perspective.

Ae Vivian
Front Row: Alan Wilson (CEO, Alliance Health Plus), Jenny Salesa (Labour MP, Manukau East), Dr Maika Kinahoi-Veikune (Public Health Physician), Rev. Kalolo Fihaki (Senior Advisor, (Ministry of Pacific Island Affairs), Lita Foliaki (ADHB Pacific Health Gain Manager). Back Row: Dr Viliami Puloka (Public Health Physician), Dr Linita Manu’atu (Senior Lecturer, Pasifika Education, AUT), Viviena Pole (Operations Manager, Alliance Health Plus), Dr Viliami Tutone (Renal Specialist, Middlemore Hospital), Vaiola Mone Ha’unga (Public Health Nurse & Master SME Trainer). Photo/Soane Gallagher Niukapu.  Kalatiola Tonga completed the Proof-reading and Consumer perspective for the project but was not able to attend the launch.

According to ADHB Pacific Health Gain Manager, Lita Foliaki, the credibility and expertise of the working group is vital to give Stanford University, as well as the Tongan community, confidence in the quality of the work produced.

AH+ Operations Manager, Vivien Pole, coordinated the project and said that the translation process started at the end of 2013 and it was a challenging project due to the working group managing other competing priorities. “But the team’s drive and passion to make this a successful and quality resource for our Tongan people, saw the completion of the translation project in February of this year”.

The desired outcome of the programme is for patients to become less dependent, change what they are able to and also be held accountable for health habits and decisions that worsen their conditions.

Dr Manu’atu said that their goal for the manual to be successful with Tongan communities was to have the translation ‘speak to the heart’ and stir an inspiration for improved lifestyles and a shift in behavioural habits for good. Self-Management is addressing the issues of the heart as a priority. When the heart is willing – the mind is convinced! “Ke mafana e Tonga mo loto ki ai”

SME is a major focus for the Ministry of Health be­cause long term conditions in New Zealand, like car­diovascular disease and diabetes, are leading caus­es of mortality, especially with our Pacific and Maori population.

Dr Viliami Tutone highlighted the depressing state of diabetes in New Zealand. The highest rate of diabetes and those that are poorly controlled are from Counties DHB, a reflection of the high population of Pacific peoples. Diabetes prevalence is highest for Pacific and Indians and the proportions of people with diabetes who had poor glucose control in 2013 is mostly in the 0-24 year age group and again led by the Pacific.

Alliance Health Plus together with Tongan Health Society and Procare, have been using the Stanford model for the Healthy Village Action Zone (HVAZ) programme in English with 42 church groups. The Tongan Facilitators now have a manual they can use consistently. The Samoan translation is expected to be completed soon.

The HVAZ Diabetes Self-Management Manual (DSME) was also launched on the night. The HVAZ team identified a need to develop two DSME clinical modules to compliment the SME programme. This project was led and completed by Dr Viliami Puloka with the help of the HVAZ nurses Mesepa Channing from Alliance Health Plus, Sulita Smith from Procare and Elenoa Havea from Tongan Health Society. The DSME manual was later translated into the Tongan language by Dr Viliami Puloka.

The event was attended by representatives from the DHBs, Health Providers, SME Trainers & Facilitators and other sectors.

Asbestos risk warning for Haʻapai schools

By
Kaniva Pacific
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PHOTO:  Children walk to school in Koulo Village on April 10, 2007 in Ha’apai, Tonga. Photo/ Amy Toensing/ Reportage by Getty Images. 

The Tongan government has been warned that school children at Haʻapai primary schools could be at risk of asbestos contamination.

Asbestos is a chemical that can create a health risk if the materials it contained were disturbed or broken up and fibres it made up with were released into the air.

Lord Tuʻihaʻateiho warned Parliament last week reminding the Prime Minister some of the schools in Haʻapai had been previously identified that building materials used for their construction contained asbestos.

He said he understood work was underway by US military personnel to clean and remove the hazardous materials in the northern islands and they were expected to come to Haʻapai.

“I ask that if they come to Haʻapai let them look at [these schools] as it is very hazardous to school children’s life if they inhale it,” Lord Tuʻihaʻateiho said in Tongan.

Government response

The Minister of Health responded and said a project had been initiated this year by World Bank organisation to remove all asbestos contained materials in buildings in Haʻapai.

The minister said such materials at government’s quarters in Hihifo, Haʻapai had been removed by replacing them with new roofs.

He said he believed the primary schools were included in the World Bank’s project.

Lord Tuʻihaʻateiho would not name the schools he said were at risk of asbestos contamination.

Kaniva understands these schools were affected when Cyclone Ian struck the islands in 2014 leaving about 90 percent of the residents homeless.

Asbestos

Asbestos was banned in the late 1980s in New Zealand after it was recognised as causing cancer. Patients who suffered diseases caused by asbestos find them crippling, very painful and usually fatal.

There are no known cures.

The work to remove the fatal chemical requires specialist asbestos removal contractor and it is expensive.

In May 2014 a Herne Bay school in Auckland was closed down for weeks before an investigation was underway to determine whether asbestos dust from a nearby building site where demolition and asbestos removal work was being carried out spread into the school compound.

Haʻapai commuters face “disaster” as electric poles erected in middle of roads

By
Kaniva Pacific
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PHOTO: Electric poles in Haʻapai erected almost at the centre of the roads have caused inconvenience to the public and road users. Photo/Supplied

Utility poles, carrying electricity and telephone wires erected almost at the centre of roads in Lifuka, Haʻapai have been described as a “disaster” and works “designed with no proper surveying”.

Haʻapai Governor Moʻale Fīnau has told Kaniva News this afternoon the positioning of the poles was made after it was found out the road cut through several tax allotments.

He said it was a “disaster” and that it appeared it would cost government a lot of money to resolve the problems.

Finau said he has contacted Tonga Power’s manager in Haʻapai and asked him to hold the work before he returned to the islands on Wednesday.

He said it appeared most roads in Haʻapai were constructed without conducting land surveying to determine boundaries and spaces required by law for the roadways.

“I think that the best way to solve this problem is to move the poles to the road side and compensate the land holders if they ask for compensation as according to the Constitution of Tonga”.

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Utility poles erected almost in the middle of the roads in Haʻapai. Photo/Supplied

The governor said it was “sad” and that he was in Nukuʻalofa before he was made aware of the incident.

“I am told that the part of the road where these power poles are positioned close to the middle cuts through the adjacent land holder’s tax allotment and that’s why these poles as appeared in the photos are positioned further out from the road side,” Finau said.

“I have asked the Manager of Tonga Power  based in Ha’apai to temporarily stop the wiring while I work out a way to have this problem solved as it would be very costly and unreal to shift the road”, he said.

Finau believed the “roads were designed without proper surveying so this is the  consequence of not doing these jobs in the right way”.

Tongan taboo for touching king’s head brings foreign church minister to perform coronation

By
Kalino Latu
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PHOTO: D’Arcy Wood will coronate the incoming Tongan king King Tupou VI in July. Photo/Dennis Manktelow (Herald Sun). 

A foreign church minister who has Tongan connection will perform the coronation of Their Majesties King Tupou VI and Queen Nanasipau’u Tuku’aho following  an official request made because of the taboo for Tongan subjects to touch the king’s head.

The king’s body is regarded as sacred and that Tongan  citizens are not allowed to touch him or even stay very close to where he was when talking to him.

The retired Methodist minister, Rev D’Arcy Wood who lives in Gisborne, Melbourne, was formally invited to perform the coronation ceremony of Their Majesties this Saturday.

He told the Australian’s Herald Sun that he has been given the royal task because “no Tongan citizen can do it as it is forbidden for a Tongan to touch the King’s head”.

Rev Mr Wood was born in Tonga when his father A. Harold Wood was principal at the Free Wesleyan Church’s college in 1924.

He told the paper that “I know the King from his time when he was the High Commissioner for Tonga in Canberra in the 1990s — he and his wife were among many Tongans who came to the church I was the Minister at.”

Mr Wood will fly to Tonga tomorrow and he reportedly said he will be “talking to the King and Queen a lot as it gets closer and there will be a lot of rehearsals.”

“The day itself will be very exciting for Tongans and there are enormous celebrations planned across the country from school kids getting involved, traditional dancing and feasting,” Herald Sun reported.

 

He said: “My father was principal of the main boys school in Tonga, he conducted services and led Hymns in Tongan and established choirs in the country when he discovered what great singers the Tongans were”.

One of Mr Wood’s sisters, Elizabeth Wood-Ellem, returned to live in Tonga as an adult and wrote a book on Tongan Queen S’lote Tupou III, who became world famous when at Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation she refused to ride in a hooded carriage during a rain marred procession.

Their Majesties’ coronation celebration will formally start this Friday 27 to July 7.

Thousand of ‘Otule fish are shared by residents at Ha’apai’s beaches

By
Kaniva Pacific
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PHOTO: Thousand of ʻOtule fish arrived at Faleloa beach. Photo/Lovely Tuʻivailala

Thousands of ‘Otule fish (also known as Bigeye Scad fish) were spotted at a beach in Faleloa, Ha’apai this week.

The fish have been sighted at the Faleola beach since April.

Locals believe that the arrival of the ‘Otule signifies that it is the beginning of their breeding season.

To catch the fish, residents have been arriving at the beach with fishing nets.

The catch was then disseminated into small piles on the sand before the locals divided the catch amongst themselves.

Some locals were spotted carrying their share in sacks to their vehicles.

Photos of the villagers’ celebration of the ‘Otule’s arrival have been showcased on social media.

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Thousand of ʻOtule fish arrive at Faleloa beach. Photo/Lovely Tuʻivailala
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Residents use sack to carry their share home. Photo/Lovely Tuivailala
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Residents arrive at the beach with fishing nets. Photo/Lovely Tuʻivailala

 

All Blacks name squad for Samoa

By
Kaniva Pacific
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The All Blacks squad for the Samoa Test has been announced today by selectors Steve Hansen, Ian Foster and Grant Fox today.

Malakai Fekitoa and Charles Piutau were selected while Augustine Pulu was not picked due to injury.

All Blacks Head Coach Steve Hansen said: “The selectors would like to congratulate those new All Blacks we have named today. It is always a proud moment when a player is named in the All Blacks for the first time and they have all worked incredibly hard to get here.

“As is always the case with squad selections, we also had to leave out some players who are unlucky not to be selected. They will get further opportunities to stake their claims in the NZ Maori and Barbarians sides which play next month.

“We have selected a large squad of 41 players, partly through necessity, with two New Zealand teams still involved in the Super Rugby competition. But, more importantly, it also gives us the chance to work with some athletes we haven’t worked with before and see how they cope at Test level. This will allow us to make better decisions when it comes to selecting our Rugby World Cup team in August. I would like to thank New Zealand Rugby and the Board for allowing us to pick a squad of this size.”

The full squad is as follows: (with Investec Super Rugby and provincial teams and Test caps. * indicates a new All Black).

Forwards:

Hookers

Dane Coles – Hurricanes / Wellington (27)

Hikawera Elliot – Chiefs / Poverty Bay (3)

Keven Mealamu – Blues / Auckland (123)

Codie Taylor – Crusaders / Canterbury *

 

Props

Wyatt Crockett – Crusaders / Canterbury (27)

Charlie Faumuina – Blues / Auckland (20)

Ben Franks – Hurricanes / Hawke’s Bay (31)

Owen Franks – Crusaders / Canterbury (57)

Joe Moody – Crusaders / Canterbury (8)

Tony Woodcock – Blues /North Harbour (110)

 

Locks

James Broadhurst – Hurricanes / Taranaki *

Brodie Retallick – Chiefs / Bay of Plenty (36)

Luke Romano – Crusaders / Canterbury (17)

Jeremy Thrush – Hurricanes / Wellington (11)

Samuel Whitelock – Crusaders / Canterbury (62)

 

Loose forwards

Sam Cane – Chiefs / Bay of Plenty (22)

Jerome Kaino – Blues /Auckland (56)

Richie McCaw (captain) – Crusaders / Canterbury (137)

Liam Messam – Chiefs / Waikato (40)

Kieran Read – Crusaders / Canterbury (72)

Matt Todd – Crusaders / Canterbury (2)

Victor Vito – Hurricanes / Wellington (26)

 

Backs:

Halfbacks

Tawera Kerr-Barlow – Chiefs / Waikato (15)

TJ Perenara – Hurricanes / Wellington (11)

Aaron Smith – Highlanders / Manawatu (38)

 

First five-eighths

Beauden Barrett – Hurricanes / Taranaki (28)

Daniel Carter – Crusaders / Canterbury (102)

Colin Slade – Crusaders /Canterbury (17)

Lima Sopoaga – Highlanders / Southland *

 

Midfielders

Ryan Crotty – Crusaders / Canterbury (13)

Malakai Fekitoa – Highlanders / Auckland (8)

Ma’a Nonu – Hurricanes / Wellington (94)

Conrad Smith – Hurricanes / Wellington (85)

Sonny Bill Williams – Chiefs / Counties Manukau (23)

 

Outside backs

Israel Dagg – Crusaders /Hawke’s Bay (46)

Cory Jane – Hurricanes / Wellington (48)

Nehe Milner-Skudder – Hurricanes / Manawatu *

Waisake Naholo – Highlanders / Taranaki *

Charles Piutau – Blues /Auckland (14)

Julian Savea – Hurricanes / Wellington (33)

Ben Smith – Highlanders / Otago (38)

The All Blacks squad will assemble on Auckland’s North Shore on Wednesday this week for a three-day camp minus the 18 players in the Hurricanes and Highlanders, who will be preparing for this weekend’s Super Rugby semifinal matches. Following the camp this week, the All Blacks will re-assemble in Auckland on Wednesday 1 July to prepare for the Test against Samoa.

Image of sexual assault suspect released following attack at Mt Wellington

By
Kaniva Pacific
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PHOTO: Police investigating a serious sexual attack in Auckland are seeking to identify a man from CCTV footage. Photo/Supplied

A CCTV footage of a man wanted over the sexual assault of a woman in Auckland’s Mt Wellington suburb on Waitangi Day has been released by New Zealand Police.

Police believed the man was Tongan between 18 – 25 years of age with a short black hair.

He was wearing a yellow v-neck shirt and brown camouflage shorts with a distinctive faded tattoo on his upper left thigh

On the day of the incident he forced his way into a house and sexually attacked a woman.

Detective Braden Harris says the attack occurred at approximately midday on Waitangi Day at a house on Mt Wellington Highway.

“He subjected the lone female in the house to a serious and nasty sexual attack,” Harris says.

“This was a prolonged attack which has left the victim exceptionally traumatised, which she will be for a very long time.”

The CCTV footage captured that day shows a man cutting across the Countdown Mt Wellington carpark and running behind the supermarket alongside Hamlin Park.

Anyone with information can call Detective Braden Harris 213 8205 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 to give information anonymously.

House on fire in Lapaha

By
Kaniva Pacific
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Fire fighters were called to a property at Lapaha this morning and they were currently battling a house fire in the area at the time of this report.

Fulila Tangata’iloa was at the scene and she said she could see smoke coming from the house.

She said the property belonged to Petelo and Lupe Tauvaka.

“Nothing remained” of the cement block house, she said.

It was claimed the home owners were not at the property when the blaze started.

There were no reports of injury or people trapped inside the house.

Tonga Fire Services could not be reached for comments.

 

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