Tonga’s troubled Lulutai airlines has bought a new aircraft, according to reliable sources.
Kaniva News understands the airline has bought a 19-seat DeHavilland Canada Twin Otter for US$6.5 million.
We have contacted Lulutai’s CEO, Poasi Tei, for confirmation.
We have asked him who is funding the purchase of the aircraft and when it will arrive in Tonga.
It is understood that in May this year Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade awarded a contract to support a Twin Otter in Tonga.
Twin Otters have an extremely good reputation and have been used widely in the Pacific.
The Kiribati government bought one in February through an American company and it appears the deal may have been supported by the US government.
According to Kaniva New’s sources, a Twin Otter is being prepared and is expected to arrive in Tonga soon.
It is understood that earlier this year, Lulutai CEO Tei was enquiring about the possibility of acquiring a Twin Otter for a three to six months lease.
Micro operators such as Lulutai normally seek a package known as a wet lease that includes an aircraft, crew, maintenance and insurance. However, Tonga’s financial position is likely to affect its chances of securing an aircraft without external funding guarantees.
Kaniva News believes that two Twin Otters were identified as available for sale for US$6.4m each in March.
An inmate at Auckland Prison in Pāremoremo has been hospitalised after an alleged prisoner on prisoner assault this afternoon.
Uila Kirifi, acting prison director, confirmed the incident.
“Police have been notified. Corrections will also carry out a review into the incident, and will ensure all evidence is provided to police,” he said, adding violence is “not tolerated” at the facility.
“Any prisoner using such behaviour will be held to account for their actions, including facing criminal charges.”
Police were advised of the assault about 4.10pm today, a spokesperson said, adding the person’s injuries were moderate.
“Prisons can be volatile environments, and we are constantly working to ensure our prisons provide the safest environment possible for staff and prisoners,” Kirifi said. “Auckland Prison accommodates the country’s most dangerous and volatile people.
“Many prisoners have long histories of antisocial behaviour, and can behave unpredictably and act without warning.
“Over 80 percent of the prison population have convictions for violence in their offending histories.”
Tonga has begun construction of its first ever dialysis centre in the kingdom.
A groundbreaking ceremony this morning marked the occasion at Veitongo.
Designer’s impression of the dialysis centre
The Minister of Health, Saia Piukala said during the ceremony that the centre is named after Siaosi Brown, a Tongan man who died while hiking Bell’s Canyon, US in June 2017.
As Kaniva News reported at the time, Siaosi was a best friend of Rod Emam. Emam’s father and uncle have donated and funded the centre.
Tonga did not have dialysis centre which it forces people who sufferred from diabetes and renal failure to travel to overseas countries including New Zealand, Australia and the US for treatment.
The Ministry of Health chief executive Dr Reynold ‘Ofanoa said this morning about 75 percent of Tonga’s annual death rate had been due to non-communicable diseases.
He said 40 to 50 people need this dialysis service.
The groundbreaking ceremony today comes after years of negotiations, Dr ‘Ofanoa said.
As we previously reported, a private company in Salt Lake City was partnering with Tonga’s Ministry Of Health. The US organization involved philanthropists who wanted to leave some of their money and wealth to charity.
A Tongan full-time missionary of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints died last weekend in a Philippines hospital.
Papa Fe’iloakitau. Photo / The Church News
Elder Papa Fe’iloaki, 22, of Tonga, died Saturday, July 29. He had been admitted to the hospital earlier with a fever and pneumonia, passing away a short time later, reported Sam Penrod, Church spokesman.
The cause of Elder Fe’iloaki’s symptoms and death are still being determined, Penrod added.
Serving in the Philippines Olongapo Mission at the time of his death, Elder Fe’iloaki had been a full-time missionary since June 2022.
“We express our deepest sympathies and love to Elder Fe’iloaki’s family and friends and to his fellow missionaries who have served at his side for the past 13 months,” Penrod said. “We pray each will feel the Savior’s comfort and strength during this difficult time.”
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The Supreme Court has declared the Public Service Commission’s suspension of its Deputy Secretary as unlawful.
The hearing was heard before Lord Chief Justice Whitten.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Fekita ‘Utoikamanu. Photo/PM Office
In his report on the case, the Lord Chief Justice said that on November 14, 2022, the Minister of Foreign Affairs sent an Executive Directive by e-mail to Toakase Panisia Palelei, the Deputy Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Secretary of Foreign Affairs and staff of the Ministry, for certain action to be implemented within the Immigration Division of the Ministry.
The Public Service Commission alleged that neither Palelei nor the Secretary responded to the Minister’s directive. On November 18, 2022, the Minister repeated the directive and required it to be implemented by 2.30pm that day. Again, neither the Plaintiff nor the Secretary responded. As a result, the Minister lodged a complaint with the Commission against the Plaintiff.
Where an employee is alleged to have committed a serious breach of discipline or repeated minor breaches of discipline, regulation 5 of the Public Service (Disciplinary Procedures) Regulations requires the Chief Executive Officer of the relevant Ministry to conduct a preliminary investigation into the complaint and if he/she determines that there has been a serious breach of discipline, or repeated minor breaches of discipline, the CEO shall forward a complete report, containing specified information and documents, to the CEO of the Commission.
However, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs does not have a CEO. Under the Public Service Act, the Secretary is not a CEO. During a meeting on February 10, 2023, the Secretary advised the Acting CEO of the Commissiont that he did not wish to be involved in any disciplinary proceedings against the Plaintiff. As a result, a report in accordance with regulation 5 was never prepared.
On December 1, 2022, the Commission issued Decision 908 by which it initiated disciplinary action against the Plaintiff for serious breach of discipline, purportedly pursuant to the Regulations and referred the complaint to the Charge Formulation Committee. The Commission provided the Committee with its two decisions and the reports of the Minister.
On December 21, 2022, the Commission issued Decision 919 by which it suspended Palelei from duty without pay and advised her that procedures for serious disciplinary charges would be progressed against her.
On 1 March 1, 2023, the Committee charged Palelei with serious breaches of discipline.
In this proceeding, Palelei challenged the lawfulness of the Commission’s decisions and the resultant decision by the Committee to charge her. On March 31, 2023, she was granted leave to apply for judicial review of the decisions. An injunction was issued restraining the Commission from taking any further action in respect of its decisions pending the hearing.
Palelei contended the decisions were unlawful because the Commission failed to follow procedures prescribed by the Regulations. In particular, Palelei relied on the fact that a regulation 5 report from the CEO of the Ministry was never prepared or provided to her or the Committee as required.
The Public Service Commission contended that it was entitled to initiate disciplinary proceedings against Palelei, of its own motion, and that in the absence of express procedures within the Regulations for doing so, it was entitled to determine its own procedures provided they were consistent with and complement the Regulations.
On June 16, 2023, the parties agreed for the following question to be separately tried pursuant to Order 25 rule 4 of the Supreme Court Rules:
Whether it was lawful for the Public Service Commission to charge Palelei with serious breaches of discipline pursuant to Regulation 7 or suspend her from duty without pay pursuant to Regulation 9, in the absence of a report provided for by Regulation 5, the provision of which was not possible, and according to procedures determined by the Defendant according to the Act.
The separate trial of the question took place on July 17, 2023. At the conclusion of oral argument it was determined that the Commission’s defence could not succeed, and that judgment should be entered for Palelei.
The Supreme Court ruled the Commission’s decision to suspend Palelei from duty without pay was unlawful.
It said any recommendation from the Committee to suspend her was dependent upon receipt of a regulation 5 report. Similarly, pursuant to regulation 9, the Commission’s power to suspend was dependent upon receipt of a regulation 5 report, which could have been available had the Commission fulfilled its statutory obligation to appoint a CEO and/or had the Minister appointed an Acting CEO.
In the absence of a regulation 5 report, there was no lawful basis for the Committee to recommend suspension or for the Commission to suspend Palelei. This also meant that the Public Service Commission’s decisions to initiate serious disciplinary action against the Plaintiff which resulted in the charges of serious breach of discipline against her and her suspension without pay for serious breach of discipline and instituting procedures for serious disciplinary charges against her were unlawful.
The Commission’s decisions were quashed and set aside.
A former Senior Customs Officer who was jailed for six years imprisonment has died in prison.
Paula Naitoko. Photo/Facebook
Paula Naitoko, 69, was sentenced on 21 October to six-years for importing a substantial amount of methamphetamine and firearms, concealed in a box from the United States in 2019
He was found guilty in the Supreme Court of importing 6662 grams of methamphetamine worth of TOP$1 million.
Naitoko, who was nearing retirement age, was also found guilty of trying to smuggle guns and ammunition into the country.
COMMENTARY: As China and the United State struggle for dominance in the Pacific, it seems that the people of Tonga are not satisfied with anything the big powers do.
People in Tonga waiting to go aboard the Chinese Navy Hospital Ship, the Peace Ark docked at Vuna Wharf. Photo/’Elaiakimi Kolomalu
As we reported recently, the United States has made a major effort to court the smaller Pacific Islands with the re-establishment of embassies and the re-emergence of the Peace Corps.
High ranking visits by US officials such as Secretary of State Antony Blinken and meetings with the Tongan government have signalled a willingness to re-engage diplomatically. And yet some Tongans are not so happy about the newly US embassy in Nuku’alofa because an immigration service has yet to be established. People still have to travel to Fiji to file their application which costs them a lot.
Perhaps they should be patient and see what services are actually provided before being critical.
Meanwhile, Tongans have been able to see a very visible expression of China’s efforts in the presence of the Chinese navy medical ship Peace Ark at Vuna wharf on Friday. While her tour of the Pacific will have been planned long ago, it was interesting that she arrived just after the visit by the US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, who criticised China’s activities in the Pacific.
Our photo was taken at the Vuna wharf and shows Tongans waiting to go on for medical assistance. People from all over Tongatapu and the outer islands travelled to see the Chinese health professionals.
The sight of so many Tongans gathering in peace to welcome the Chinese (and no doubt because they really needed their medical assistance) should not disguise the fact that there has been ongoing resistance and resentment against the presence of the Chinese in Tonga since they started arriving three decades ago.
The scandal of the corrupt sale of passports and the 2006 Nuku’alofa riots were just the worst expressions of this resentment. However, the Chinese are working hard in Tonga to help the economy. Should they only receive such unwelcoming treatment and violence?
In 2015 the late Prime Minister ‘Akilisi Pōhva told an audience in Auckland that Tongans should copy the Chinese. This is what we wrote at the time:
“Hon. Pōhiva told the audience he regarded those Chinese who lived in the kingdom as Tongans. He said there was no choice but to treat the Chinese as brothers and sisters. Hon. Pōhiva said Tongans should copy Chinese lifestyles and standard of living as their hard working attitude would help Tonga’s economy. He said the Chinese went to bed late at night, but were the first to get to work in the morning while some Tongans spent all night drinking kava and sleeping the next day.”
Perhaps the late Prime Minister’s vision will take a while to become reality. He certainly became concerned later on at how deeply in debt to China Tonga had become and the enormous effect paying off the debt would have on the economy.
One wonders whether concerns about the serious health issues in Tonga could be used by the Chinese Communist Party as a political tool to change the Tongan mindset about its people. Tongan people are top on the world list of countries which are unhealthy. The reality, however, is that Tonga benefits from these visits, at least in the short term.
The last time the Peace Ark was in the kingdom was on its 2018-2019 voyage when it visited Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, Fiji and Tonga before sailing to the Caribbean and Central America. Medical staff saw 50,884 patients and performed 288 operations on the voyage. The Peace Ark was launched in 2007 and is known as the Daishan Dao when operating in a navy role.
The Royal Australian Navy journal Semaphore described the visits by navy hospital ships as ‘Medical diplomacy.’ This means they are used to improve their country’s image on the international scene by providing medical care to those in need.
Semaphore quoted the Peace Ark’s then commanding officer, Rear Admiral Bao Yuping, as saying the ship visited less-developed nations to help people in desperate need and let the local people ‘know more about China, the Chinese military and Chinese navy’ thereby executing a vital medical diplomacy mission.
It should also be borne in mind that the United States Navy is also playing its part in hospital ship diplomacy. In March the US Navy agreed to a request by Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare to have its hospital ship, USNS Mercy, dock in Honiara during the November 2023 Pacific Games.
It seems that both sides will continue to use floating hospitals to prove what good friends they are to the Pacific Islands for some time to come.
A rugby league player has been jailed for two years after he raped a child he met after securing a job as an unqualified teacher’s aide.
Viliami Teukava Fakavamo Paki, 24, moved from New Zealand to Emerald in Queensland‘s Central Highlands where he signed with QRL club the Mackay Cutters in 2018.
Mackay District Court heard that an injury forced him to leave the sport the following year. He found work at a school in the region where he met his victim despite not having any teaching qualifications, The Daily Mercury reports.
Paki plead not guilty to digital rape and indecent treatment of a child charges, but a jury disagreed, finding him guilty of four counts of rape on Thursday.
He was acquitted on the indecent treatment of a child charge.
A conviction was recorded which would usually require him to be deported under the Migration Act for failing the ‘good character’ test.
But Paki could be allowed to stay in Australia, according to his defence barrister, who said the government would take into account how long he had lived in the country and the seriousness of his crimes.
The court heard the offending occurred over two months in 2020 and that Paki only stopped when other women his own age started ‘showing interest in him’.
There were no threats of violence or drugs and alcohol involved.
Judge Michael Byrne said the offending had ‘intruded into the normal upbringing of a (young) girl’.
He said Paki had formed the idea the offending was not predatory in part due to ‘immaturity’.
‘The jury accepted you digitally penetrated her on four occasions,’ Judge Byrne said.
The 24-year-old was sentenced to four years jail and will serve two years behind bars with the remaining two years suspended.
MP Piveni Piukala has defended his proposed motion of no confidence in the Hu’akavameiliku government, saying the government’s financial record justified the move.
MP Piveni Piukala (L), Setita Tu’i’onetoa
In an interview with Facebook livestream programme Radio Television Tonga International (RTTI) Piukala said the government had failed to “aggressively address” the deficit budget.
He said the solution for a deficit budget was to reduce expenses, but this had not been the case. In the previous budget the government’s travelling allowance was budgeted at TP$13 million, but grew to TP$21 million.
Hon. Piukala claimed this was unlawful because the law said the government could only make an increase of 10 percent, or TP$1.3 million. Instead the government increased it by TP$8 million. Piukala described the situation as a crisis currently faced by the nation.
He said there were complaints about the problems with roads, but TP$27 million had been spent on them. He was referring to the former government’s controversial roading project, which is still being dealt with by the Hu’akavameiliku’s government.
During the interview, RTTI owner and journalist Setita Tu’i’onetoa told Hon. Piukala many people did not think this was a time to move a no confidence vote motion because it could affect the economy of the country. She suggested it could stir up political unrest in the country and that the government should be given its remaining two more years to finish off their term.
Hon. Piukala responded by asking where Tu’i’onetoa obtained her facts and said she had given her audience a “misconception of what the reality is.”
He said it was his job as an elected MP to submit the vote of no confidence. He told Tu’i’onetoa her claims were different from the solid information he had.
Tu’i’onetoa told Piukala her source of information was from discussions on social media. She also asked Piukala to explain any failures and causes that would cause enough mistrust in the Hu’akavameiliku government to justify a vote of no confidence.
In response Piukala said, he has been on livestream programmes enough times to explain the failures of this government and he did not know what else he could do to explain it.
Tu’i’onetoa, a New Zealand-based PTOA (Democrat) supporter, was criticised on social media and accused of twisting the interview to look like a vote of no confidence vote was not supported. Other commentators stood by her.
Kaniva News has talked to two presidents of two separate PTOA chapters in New Zealand.
Vainikolo Tāufa, the president of the PTOA Auckland Aotearoa New Zealand, said he was unaware of any protest against the proposed vote of no confidence led by Hon. Piukala. He said his chapter fully supported the vote of no confidence.
Fetuli Aholahi, the president of the PTOA New Zealand said his chapter supported the move for the vote of no confidence. He said the Board of PTOA NZ also supported the move. The Board contains representatives from all PTOA chapters in New Zealand, he said.
In Tongan he said: “‘Oku lahi ‘a e ‘uhinga mei he kamata’anga pe e”. In English, he said they have enough evidence of issues of concern right from the beginning of this government to justify a vote of no confidence.
PTOA Kolope, which included members from the United States, Australia and New Zealand, as well as Tonga, has posted its support for the vote of the no confidence. It said the government’s issue with Lulutai airlines was one of its concerns.
