A driver has been arrested after a 19-year-old boy died following a hit-and-run incident on Tongatapu.
Tonga Central Police station. Photo/Kalino Lātū
The injured boy was discovered by a member of the public on a roadside on Monday, the Police said.
The victim from Kolovai died on Tuesday 23.
“The incident was reported to the Nukunuku Police Station by a member of the public who discovered the victim on the roadside between ‘Atatä Si’i and Fo’ui early Monday morning”, the Police said in a statement.
It said a 50-year-old man from ‘Āhau has been arrested in connection with the incident.
“The suspect remains in police custody pending further investigation. This marks the fourth road death this year”.
In a separate incident early yesterday morning, 23 July 2024, at approximately 12.55am, a collision involving two vehicles occurred on Taufa’ähau Rd at Haveluloto.
One of the drivers, a 21-year-old man from Haveluloto, has been arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol.
The other driver, a 46-year-old man from ‘Utulau, sustained a right leg fracture and is currently receiving treatment at Vaiola Hospital.
Police continue to investigate this incident.
Tonga Police advised drivers to obey speed limits, designate a sober driver, and follow traffic regulations to protect themselves and others on the road.
“Under Section 47 of the Traffic Act, drivers involved in accidents are mandated to stop, offer assistance to the injured person, and report the accident to the nearest police station”.
His Majesty King Tupou VI has named a new tugboat, Fanga-‘i-lifuka, this morning in Nuku‘alofa.
The “Fanga-‘I-Lifuka” with its 4,500 horsepower twin propeller is currently the largest tugboat that Ports Authority Tonga has in its towboat fleet. Photo/Embassy of Japan in the Kingdom of Tonga
The 4,500-horsepower twin propeller provided under Japan’s Non-Project Grant Aid (NPGA) projects was worth 1 billion Japanese Yen (TOP$15 million).
A statement said this was the largest amount of funding Japan has provided for an NPGA project to date.
It demonstrated the level of commitment Japan undertakes to increase Tonga’s maritime capacity, it said.
The Fanga-‘I-Lifuka is currently the largest tugboat in Ports Authority Tonga’s towboat fleet.
Five Japanese engineers are currently in Tonga to provide operation training for designated staff of Ports Authority Tonga.
The Ambassador of Japan to Tonga, H.E. Mr. Inagaki Hisao, gratefully handed over the new tugboat to the people of Tonga in the presence of His Majesty King Tupou VI during an official event in Tongatapu today.
“ It was a festive occasion as the Ambassador highlighted that the friendship between Japan and Tonga was founded upon the warm relations between the Imperial Household of Japan and the Royal Family of Tonga, and it continues to flourish under His Majesty King Tupou VI’s benevolence”.
Former Fanga-’i-Lifuka
The king’s naming the new boat brought back to life an incident in 1961 when a hurricane sunk the government’s then-inter-island vessel Fanga-’i-Lifuka.
Reports said that after the Queen’s birthday celebrations on 13 March 1960, she told her matāpule Lutui: “Ka ‘i ai ha fo’i fuatau pea mou manatu’i mai au he kuo u uitou”.
This would be translated into English as: “If you have any yams, please remember me, for I am a widow.”
It was made as part of the fakalaunoa practice, which involves jokey remarks made by royalty when meeting their people.
The people of Ha’apai understood it was their cultural duty to provide the yams for the Queen. On Her Majesty’s birthday the following year, they travelled to Nuku’alofa in the then Fanga-‘i-Lifuka and a barge, bringing with them yams and other produce.
On their return to Ha’apai the boat was caught in a cyclone before it sank near Ha’apai’s ‘Otumu’omu’a islands. All passengers and crew survived the tragedy.
The Queen composed the song in memory of the dreadful incident. It was titled Hiva Afā ‘a Vaea (Vaea’s Hurricane Song), after Noble Baron Vaea, the father of current Lord Vaea. Noble Baron Vaea was a son of Queen Sālote’s half-brother Vīlai. He was the Governor of Ha’apai at the time and he was one of those people from the islands who travelled to Tonga and returned in the Fanga-‘i-Lifuka before it sank.
The version of the lyrics is copied verbatim below in Tongan and in English.
Hiva Afā ‘a Vaea
The wind veered westerly Wrathful was the storm Overwhelming the Kolongatata Converging upon Faka’oskato Alas, Kao mo Tofua My kie tāua has blown away The Fanga-‘i-Lifuka has fled The rock of Loupua is forsaken
Screaming and calling were heard The Fangafalikipako awoke Women of Ha’apai, harken to the nose flute’s call in the night And broadcast to the distance That is my cherished salusalu Embrace the command lest it falls wasted To please the Sia ko Veiongo
If the Futu Ko Vuna questions it Or the Taungapeka asks about it Then tell them, Tautavale I am the talatā Fishing bird of Uoleva My only food is pandanus I drink of the dew, eat of the sunshine My bed, the foam of the wave
Oh Lēlea, I send you my love And to you, Sia ko Kafoa and ‘Alo’italau How the ironwood tree Tu’uakitau weeps For our mutual helplessness When the mask breaks, we turn to Manono Let the calabash shell spilling at Vaha’akolo Send forth its perfume to the heart Increasing ever your love for the motto Be it hard or be it easy Ha’apai stand in your legendary daring
Tongan version
Hiva Afā ‘a Vaea Ne sika-a-hema fakahihifo Louloua'a e Matangi to Kolongatata ke fakauo 'O falala 'i faka'osikato Ise'isa e Kao mo Tofua Vilingia hoto kie tāua Kuo hola e Fanga-'i-Lifuka Tounoa e maka ko Loupua
Pā ‘a e ui moe sīle’o Ofo a e Fanga falikipako Fine Ha'apai ke fakafanongo Ui 'a e fangufangu 'i he pō Fakamafola ki he vahamama'o Ko si'oto salusalu manako Ke talia 'a e angi na'a to Ke me'ite Sia ko Veiongo
Ka fehu'i 'e he Futu ko Vuna Pe 'ekea 'e he Taungapeka Tautavale pe i ke tala He ko au e ko e talatā Ko e Manusiu o Uoleva ko si'eku me'akai ko e fā 'Ou inu hahau mo kai la'ā Mohenga 'ihe fisi 'oe naua
Tau
Lēlea e hoku 'ofa atu Sia ko Kafoa 'Alo 'i Talau Tangi 'a e Toa Tu'uakitau He kuo fe'ofa'aki 'a kakau Fasi pe sila tuku ki Manono He fangumalingi 'i Vaha'akolo Ke Ngangatu ‘o 'alaha 'i he loto Kae tupulaki 'ofa 'i he Moto Ka faingata'a pe faingofua Ha'apai tu'u ho'o kāaimu'a
A woman who already has 200 poultry says if she had not taken in 13 dumped roosters from rural Whakatāne, they would have died.
This photo of the dumped roosters at Wardlaw Glade was posted on social media by Denise Peiris, leading to their rescue by Nicola Wood. Photo: Denise Peiris / supplied
It all started when Nicola Wood – a poultry keeper from Edgecumbe – found the Facebook post by a woman who was asking if someone could help with dozens of dumped roosters that neither council nor the SPCA would remove.
“Just surfing through Facebook a couple of weeks ago, I saw these pictures of these big roosters and I saw a caption ‘dumped’,” she said.
Denise Peiris from Whakatane had posted images of about 20 roosters that had been dumped at Wardlaw Glade in Waimana.
She told Wood the SPCA had said it was not their job to remove the birds, and when she he rang the council they told her they would not do it either.
Wood said there was no way the roosters would survive in their outdoors – they would either starve or be ripped apart by dogs.
“So I decided that’s it, I’m going to go and catch them. So that’s how that happened.”
Nicola Wood keeps about 100 free range chickens and has rehomed some roosters from Wardlaw Glade. Photo: Troy Baker / LDR
She said when she went with her husband and they could tell the roosters had been there a “couple of weeks”.
Wood said they caught the roosters from four different places within the area they had been dumped.
She said there was a technique to catching roosters.
“You just reach up and get a firm grip and grab them.”
Wood said she brought the roosters home, and some of them looked “skinny”.
“They were just lucky that someone hadn’t stopped and let the dogs off.”
She said the roosters had been dumped next to a road with a speed limit of 100km/h
“I did see a body of one that I don’t know how old it was. It obviously been hit by a car.”
But she said it was a hazard for drivers too.
“Most people’s instinct is to swerve and it can cause an accident.”
She said if people could not take care of roosters it was best to give them away.
“The other option is you have to kill them. And if you can’t do that well, then you get a friend to do it. That’s way better than letting them starve or run over or ripped apart by dogs.
The Supreme Court has ordered the Public Services Commission to stop advertising for and recruiting a Chief Executive Officer for the Ministry of Foreign affairs.
St George Palace at Pangai Si’i. Photo/Kaniva Tonga (Kalino Lātū)
It has also suspended the appointment of Paula Ma’u as acting CEO of the Ministry.
The court made an interim injunction to this effect in April.
In his summary of the case, Judge Cooper said the defendants, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Public services Commission and Mr Ma’u, sought a review of the decision.
In February this year the Secretary for Foreign Affairs asked for leave to begin in a judicial review of the appointment, arguing that the Public Services Commission had acted outside its powers in creating the position of CEO and recruiting Ma’u.
It was also argued that the Minister had acted outside his powers by appointing a person to the role.
Chief Justice Tupou granted leave for a review.
The defendants argued that the Secretary had caused the work of other immigration section to suffer and that staff had felt bullied by the installation of CCTV cameras to monitor staff.
Senior members of staff felt excluded from work they would normally do, such as being involved in the recruitment of staff and that the work of embassies was not being properly attended to.
The Secretary argued that he had been in his role since 2019 when he weas appointed by the king.
He also said the question of Mau’s appointment rested on whether it was in line with the provisions of the Public Services Act.
He claimed that Ma’u would not be able to devote sufficient time to the role of CEO since he was also Chief Secretary and Secretary to Cabinet.
After considering a range of evidence the judge ruled that it was important to maintain the existing hierarchy within the department and to pursue channels of diplomatic engagement which had been in placer for some years.
A car dealer has been found guilty of defrauding two men by obtaining TOP$ 47,000.00 by false pretence for vehicles that do not exist.
Siosina Valerie Vakasiuola. Photo/Supplied
Siosina Valerie Vakasiuola, 32, of Fua’amotu was charged in respect of two fake agreements she had made with the two prospective buyers, both involving importation of motor vehicles from Japan.
Miss Vakasiuola ran V & G Auto Tonga, a business that sold motor vehicles on Tonga’s main island, Tongatapu. Her business either imported vehicles or provided the service through connections she had with other importers.
Isileli Latu Akauola
Between June and October 2022, at Kolofo’ou, Miss Vakasiuola obtained $30,000.00 by false pretence from Isileli Latu Akauola to purchase him a truck.
Mr ‘Akau’ola agreed to pay her $35,000.00 by instalment payment plan. She would import the truck from Japan, and he would receive it upon full payment.
Between 3 June 2022 and 7 October 2022, a deposit of $10,000.00 was sent to Miss Vakasiuola’s bank account. It followed with weekly payments of sums ranging between $1,000 and $2,000 until the full amount of $30,000.00 was paid to Miss Vakasiuola.
Viliami Pomale Blake
On or about 19 April 2022, at Ma’ufanga, Miss Vakasiuola obtained $17,000.00 by false pretence from Viliami Pomale Blake to purchase two vehicles for him.
Mr Blake complaint to the police that he had paid $17,000.00 to Miss Vakasiuola for a Skyline and Honda Stream and of that date, 10 October 2022, he had received nothing.
Mr Blake came to court but refused to answer questions from the Crown advocate or the judge, the court judgement read.
He referred to the amount of money he lost and the amount he was repaid. He stated that a woman outside the court had approached him. She was a relative of Miss Vakasiuola, called Anna. He did not know her surname.
She had offered to repay the money he lost. No final agreement had been reached.
Mr Blake refused to answer any question Miss Vakasiuola put to him.
The court judgement said: “She is very sorry that in both cases things went wrong, she has entered into repayment arrangements with both Mr Blake and Mr ‘Akauola and that is a sign of both having a conscience about what went wrong and her bona fides, so her honesty.”
Mr Copper said: “Miss Vakasioula was not a convincing witness, and I concluded that she had lied to the Court”.
Two fishermen were pulled to safety Sunday morning hours after their vessel sank in Tongan waters.
The boat departed Nuku’alofa at 1.30 pm local time on Saturday for the five-hour journey to Fonoifua, north of Tonga’s main island, Tongatapu.
The Tonga Police requested New Zealand assistance after the two men were reported missing. Maritime New Zealand’s Rescue Coordination Centre (RCCNZ) helped by providing drift modelling and search areas.
The drift modelling helped locate the pair after they drifted back from Tau Island towards Ata Island with the prevailing current in a southeast direction,
It turned out that their vessel had capsized near Tau Island before they drifted 35 nautical miles (64.8 kilometres) over approximately 20 hours.
The two fishermen were found alive and well by Tongan Police.
The news comes after a post on Facebook reported that Fonoi town officer was one of the two fishermen.
“Well done to the Tongan Police and RCCNZ for this successful rescue operation – a testament to their dedication and expertise!”, the RCCNZ posted.
Early this year, the New Zealand Air Force P-3K2 Orion crew rescued two Kiribati fishermen who had been missing at sea for six days.
Several agencies across Kirbati, Fiji, New Zealand and the United States were involved in the search and rescue operation.
Maritime New Zealand’s Rescue Coordination Centre helped by providing drift modelling and search areas.
Drift modelling
It is described as a multi-purpose tool that can forecast the trajectory of any object, such as ships, boats, or resources, drifting at the sea surface or in the water column.
Organisations can monitor and manage the model’s performance on their data and artificial intelligence (AI) platform.
The analysis tool provides an estimate of the ensemble spread and the likely impacted areas.
They are among the most valuable tools in managing the coastal and marine environment, marine resources and maritime safety.
Donald Trump’s former physician Ronny Jackson said on Saturday that the former president is recovering as expected from a gunshot wound to his ear that he suffered last week, but noted intermittent bleeding and said Trump may require a hearing exam.
Photo: AFP / ANGELA WEISS
The bullet fired by a would-be assassin at a 13 July Trump rally in Pennsylvania came “less than a quarter of an inch from entering his head” before striking the top of Trump’s right ear, said Jackson, a Republican congressman from Texas who served as physician to Presidents Trump and Barack Obama.
Jackson, providing what appeared to be the first public description by a medical professional of Trump’s gunshot wound, said in a letter posted on social media Saturday that “the bullet track produced a 2cm wide wound that extended down to the cartilaginous surface of the ear.”
“There was initially significant bleeding, followed by marked swelling of the entire upper ear. The swelling has since resolved, and the wound is beginning to granulate and heal properly,” he wrote.
Jackson said he had provided daily evaluation and treatment of Trump’s wound since the shooting. He said no sutures were required, but noted that due to the “highly vascular nature of the ear, there is still intermittent bleeding requiring a dressing to be in place.”
Ronny Jackson. Photo: AFP
“He will have further evaluations, including a comprehensive hearing exam, as needed,” Jackson added.
Trump recounted the assassination attempt to a rapt audience on Thursday at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, saying that he was only there “by the grace of Almighty God”.
“I heard a loud whizzing sound and felt something hit me really, really hard on my right ear,” he said, a thick bandage still covering his ear. “I said to myself, ‘Wow, what was that? It can only be a bullet.'”
The Tonga government has issued Starlink a provisional permit to operate in the kingdom.
This allows Starlink Pacific Islands LLC time to process applications and payments for its services.
The news comes after the government recently told the Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite broadband provider to stop servicing customers. At the time, the company has yet to gain a licence to operate legally in the kingdom.
The warning against Starlink came after the island networks of Vava’u and Haʻapai were cut last month following damage to the undersea cable.
“The Ministry of Meteorology, Energy, Information, Disaster Management, Environment, Climate Change, Communications, and CERT (MEIDECC), under the authority of the Minister responsible for Communications has announced the granting of a provisional temporary permit to Starlink by declaration to operate in the Kingdom of Tonga, through Section 29 of the Communication Act 2015 CAP (15.01)”, a statement from the government confirming the grant of the provisional license said.
The Ministry said the temporary permit issued to Starlink includes several conditions designed to ensure compliance with government regulations and address public concerns.
The license granted to Starlink is valid for a period of six months.
It said the government instructed Starlink to cease its services in Tonga due to the illegal use of satellite terminals and disruptions caused by the undersea fibre cable outage to Vava’u and Ha’apai Islands since June 29th.
The issuance of this permit aims to address public concerns while ensuring that operations are conducted according to regulatory requirements while the application for a full license is finalised.
“The Government of Tonga commends the Starlink team for its fruitful and collaborative approach during the evaluation process and wishes Starlink Pacific Islands LLC the best in building a business that continues to benefit all Tonga citizens and residents”.
Rescheduled
Meanwhile, a government spokesperson told Kaniva News that a specialist cable repair ship is sailing to Tonga from Singapore and is expected to arrive in the islands next Friday (July 26). He previously told us it would arrive on Thursday, 18.
The cable had been broken by a recent earthquake near the Hunga Tonga Hunga Ha’apai volcano. It was detected 73-96 km from Tonga’s main island of Tongatapu and northwest of Haapai islands.
The Ministry has a spare section of cable about 60km long which it hopes will cover the damage.
“If not, we have to wait to give time to manufacture new cables”, the Ministry said.
This is the third time Tonga’s undersea cable has been disrupted.
In January 2019 Tonga’s cable was cut in an incident Tongan authorities blamed on a Malta-registered ship, the Duzgit Venture.
Tonga Cable said the cable was cut into four sections by an anchor dragged along the sea bed.
In 2022 the Hunga Tonga volcanic eruption destroyed portions of the cable and cut Tonga off from the rest of the world.
At the time, we reported comments from Dean Veverka, chief technical officer for Southern Cross Cables, which owns two other cables in the area.
He said satellites could only handle a small percentage of the traffic requirements out of any country.
“These days, submarine cables carry about 99 per cent of all communications between countries,” he said.
