Prime Minister Hu’akavameiliku was allegedly on board MV St Theresa to check whether or not the old ferry was fit to be purchased, a member of the crew has claimed.
Prime Minister Hu’akavameiliku
Despite repeated mechanical failures during the voyage from Nuku’alofa to the Ha’apai group, Hon. Hu’akavameiliku and his delegation still recommended that the government purchase the vessel about 10years ago, which was re-named the MV Niuvakai.
The vessel has now been anchored near Pangaimotu island opposite Queen Sālote wharf in Nuku’alofa for about a year.
It is understood it is no longer operational, but there are staff working there as security guards.
The accusations came after the Prime Minister was accused of abusing his power.
He has been accused of corruption after he gave top jobs to two of his Cabinet ministers who had been dismissed after a court found them guilty of electoral bribery.
He had also been accused of disobeying the rule of law by failing to submit to Parliaments financial statements about the Lulutai airlines for which he is chairman of the airlines board of directors.
He has also been accused of falsifying the government’s annual budget to hide millions of pa’anga being allegedly invested in the airlines as well as increasing his overseas traveling budget without first submitting it to Parliament for approval.
Ngalo’afē ‘Ulupano said he was the St Theresa’s First Mate in 2014 when Hon. Hu’akavameiliku and others from the government’s Friendly Islands Shipping Agency (FISA) came on board to ensure the vessel was right for all the agency needs.
‘Ulupano said he thought at the time the government would not buy the vessel because they had been struggling to get the engine to work after it repeatedly stalled before they made it to Ha’apai’s Pangai wharf.
He said the mechanical faults forced the captain to make changes to the ship’s schedule which was intended to call into various ports in Ha’apai before reaching Pangai.
He said a final decision was made for the ship to travel directly to Pangai because of the number of stalls they had experienced.
Ngalo’afē ‘Ulupano. Photo/Supplied
‘Ulupano said when they arrived at Pangai Hon. Hu’akavameiliku, who was not the Prime Minister at the time, and his colleagues returned by plane and left them there to return the ship to Nuku’alofa.
He said he wanted to come forward now and speak up after Kaniva News recently ran a story about the concerns Tonga’s Ombudsman raised about the purchase of the MV Niuvākai recently.
In that story the Ombudsman said a New Zealand-based marine surveyor identified 17 deficiencies in the MV Niuvakai before Tonga’s national shipping line paid three times what the 34 year- old vessel was worth.
The Ombudsman said the Friendly Island Shipping Agency’s board had failed to conduct a proper evaluation of the vessel.
Ombudsman ‘Aisea H. Taumoepeau said that in February 2014, Pacific Royale Shipping sold the St Theresa to FISA for NZ$936,500 or TOP$1,379,572.19. The vessel was then renamed the MV Niuvākai before it was launched by the king.
Found wanting
Dunsford Marine inspected the vessel on January 21-22, 2014, during which it identified 17 deficiencies. MV St Theresa was found wanting in most capabilities.
The purchase went ahead despite these findings.
On April 5, 2017, three years after the purchase of the vessel, New Zealand Marine Brokers inspected and evaluated the MV Niuvakai as worth NZ$350,000.
The Ombudsman said there was no evidence that the vessel was independently valued before it was purchased by FISA except for the comparative exercise made with the MV Baltic.
The MV Niuvākai has been anchored near Pangaimotu island opposite Queen Sālote wharf in Nuku’alofa for about a year now. Photo/Kaniva Tonga
“It was not clear whether FISA wanted a further valuation or were satisfied with information presented to them,” the Ombudsman said.
The Dunsford Marine report said: “It is noted that even if the MV Theresa complies with the criteria that FISA requires we would still need to conduct a thorough due diligence to ensure that the proffered information is verified.”
The report expressed deep concern about the viability of buying the MV St Theresa.
The Ombudsman said a later report from Dunsford Marine, carried out after the agreement to buy the vessel had been signed, clearly showed deficiencies about the vessel, which were not revealed by her owners. The report from New Zealand Marine Brokers, made in 2017, highlighted more problems.
Controversy
The vessel was owned by the Ramanlal brothers, who were close friends of the late King George V while he was Crown Prince and then when he became king.
In 2017 Kaniva news reported that the Niuvakai had been put up for sale.
The vessel became a financial liability after it became clear there were not enough goods to export.
The vessel was unable to lift the 20 foot (six metre) containers typically used for shipping with its deck crane and was deemed to be unprofitable on voyages lasting more than three days.
FISA created a new company called Tonga Exports Shipping Agency Limited (TESAL) to operate the MV Niuvakai.
FISA Former chief executive Vaka Utapola Vi told Kaniva News in 2014 that FISA only bought the former St Theresa because the price of other ships they looked at, including one in the Caribbean, were either too high or because it would have cost too much to bring them to Tonga.
Vi denied FISA bought the ship to help the Ramanlals with their struggle to pay back their loan for the ship.
When he was told a company in Auckland had turned down an offer to buy the ship because it would lose money on voyages lasting longer than three days, Vi said FISA had tested the ship and he had recommended it.
Troubled history
FISA has regularly updated the public since last year, saying the MV Niuvakai’s schedules had been either delayed or cancelled due to mechanical faults.
In 2015, about a year after its purchase, it was anchored in Vava’u for months because of a mechanical failure.
It also became stranded on a reef in 2016.
In March 2016 Vi was suspended and later resigned.
Neither FISA nor the government has revealed why he was told to resign.
We have contacted the Prime Minister for comment.
We have asked Hon. Hu’akavameiliku to confirm whether ‘Ulupano’s claims were true.
We also asked him to tell us whether it was true that the test voyage they conducted was only made up to fulfil the purchasing procedure and that the government had already decided it was a done deal.
More than 80 years after it came into force, some Tongans are not familiar with the kingdom’s suspension of business activities on Christmas Day and Good Friday law.
Some people have no knowledge that these two special days must be treated in the same way as Sunday under the law.
There appeared to be a significant number of people who had been taken by surprise after Kaniva News reported this week an incident in Vava’u in which the police had arrested a man for swimming in the sea on Monday’s Christmas Day.
The arrest had been criticised as unfair after it was reported that a Lulutai aircraft was conducting flight services between Vava’u and Tongatapu on the same day.
The Vava’u police did not respond to question asking why the aircraft was flying on Christmas Day.
The Minister of Police has the power to grant an exemption to the law in a state of emergency.
Some people responded to our story and said the only day they were aware of which prohibited businesses in the kingdom was on Sunday.
Some said they used to go to their plantation and planted kumara on Christmas Day as they believed it was the day in which the crop grows best.
There were also reports that people on Tongatapu as well as at other beaches on Vava’u and other islands gathered at beaches on Christmas Day for picnic and swimming.
Some criticised the arrest made in Vava’u saying why other people swimming at seas on Christmas were not arrested or charged if police were doing it according to the law.
Some even posted photos which purportedly showed people swimming at beaches on Christmas Day.
However, a copy of the law is published on the Attorney General’s website under the heading Suspension of Business on the Christmas Day and Good Friday order.
It was first introduced in 1937 by the Late Queen Sālote Tupou III.
The law says that Christmas and Good Friday must be observed throughout the Kingdom as days on which business activities are illegal.
However, as a Public Holidays Act, section 6 grants an exemption which allows the sale of bread, fresh milk, fresh fish and fresh meat but no later than noon.
The law is copied verbatim below:
Suspension of Business on Christmas Day and Good Friday Order
Made by Her Majesty in Council on 22nd December, 1937.
In exercise of the powers vested in Her by the Public Holidays Act and with the advice of Her Privy Council Her Majesty Queen Salote Tupou, D.B.E., is pleased to order, and it is hereby ordered that Christmas Day and Good Friday being days specified in section 2 of the Public Holidays Act shall until further notice be days to be observed throughout the Kingdom as days on which business (other than the sale of bread, fresh milk, fresh fish and fresh meat) shall be suspended in terms of sections 3 and 4 of the said Act.
What do sections 3 and 4 of the Public Holiday Acts say as mentioned in the Suspension of Businesses on Christmas Day and Good Friday order?
Section 3 stipulates that it is illegal for any business transactions to happen on Christmas Day and Good Friday while section 4 says that the Cabinet could make changes to this law.
The sections are copied verbatim below:
3 Public holiday to be dies non
No person shall be compelled to make any payment or do any act upon any of such public holidays which he would not be compellable to make or do upon a Sunday and the making of such payment and doing such act on the day following such public holiday shall be equivalent to payment of the money or performance of the action on such holiday.
4 Compulsory closing of stores by Order
It shall be lawful for Cabinet by Order from time to time to direct that all stores, shops and other places of business in all towns throughout the Kingdom or in any one or more of such towns as may be specified in the order shall be and remain closed upon any one or more of the days specified in section 2 hereof or upon any such special day or days as Cabinet by Order shall appoint to be kept as public holidays.
6. Exemptions
There shall be excepted from the operation of the last preceding section —
(a) the sale of any drugs or medicines;
(b) the sale of bread, butter, fresh milk, fresh meat, fresh fish and ice not later than noon;
(c) the sale of refreshments in any ice cream stores, tea or refreshment rooms;
(d) the sale of any article required for the burial of a dead body
Most of our concerned readers were well aware of the constitution clause 6 which bans any commercial activities on Sunday. However, there was no mention of the Christmas Day and Good Friday in the constitution and this is where most of the confusion came from.
It must be noted that in the same clause 6 of the constitution, it clearly refers to an exceptional law. That exception refers to the Public Holidays Act in which its sections 2, 3, 4 and 6 as well as the Suspension of Businesses on Christmas Day and Good Friday law are being mentioned above.
The constitution:
6 Sabbath Day to be kept holy.
The Sabbath Day shall be kept holy in Tonga and no person shall practise his trade or profession or conduct any commercial undertaking on the Sabbath Day except according to law; and any agreement made or witnessed on that day shall be null and void and of no legal effect.
You can also get access to this clause of the constitution by clicking on this link.
A grave in a section of Telekava Cemetery has been allegedly damaged by vandals.
Reports claimed a plastic container which appeared to have contained petrol was found near the grave.
Vandals damage a grave at Telekava cemetery
Kaniva News was unable to independently verify the authenticity of the reports.
Locals took to social media to vent their anger at the perpetrators after a Facebook user posted photos of the damage on its Facebook page this afternoon.
“This shameful act of vandalism at Telekava will cause so much pain to the families affected, it is so heartbreaking,” a commenter wrote.
Commenters on the post said the incident is shocking and branded the person or persons who did the vandalism as cruel and disrespectful.
It appeared that Tongan police had been involved in an investigation of the incident but they could not be reached for comment.
The grave is not far from where the former Prime Minister ‘Akilisi Pōhiva was buried.
Pōhiva’s daughter ‘Ana Fifita Koli said she had been concerned about his father’s grave when she saw the post.
It is understood she was inquiring about the incident.
It is also understood Pōhiva’s grave was safe.
Vandals damage a grave at Telekava cemetery
As we reported previously, several graves in the Tongan local and international communities had been subjected to vandalism as a result of some people believing the spirits of the dead were harming members of their family.
Critics believed this type of false belief was still held by uneducated and ignorant people and they need to stop.
A Kiwi man has drowned in front of his five children while paddleboarding in Australia.
Seti Tuaopepe, 35, was drowned at a newly opened inland ‘beach’ after spending his last moments holding one of his sons above water, it has been revealed.
Mr Tuaopepe had been paddleboarding with his children when they fell into the water, the Daily Mail reported.
It is understood Mr Tuaopepe held his children above water until a rescuer arrived at around 2.35pm on Tuesday but was unable to save himself.
NSW Police divers and a Toll rescue helicopter were called in as part of the extensive effort.
Mr Tuaopepe’s body was found about 6.15pm, about four hours after he went missing.
Reports said Mr Tuaopepe grew up in Samoa, studied in New Zealand and moved to Australia for work.
Tributes to Mr Tuaopepe began pouring in on social media.
‘You were kind, silent and a very gentle classmate,’ one friend wrote on Facebook.
‘You were a family man … condolences to your wife, children and family. Rest in peace and in the loving arms of our Lord.’
Penrith beach officially opened last week, immediately gaining the nickname Pondi after the famous eastern suburbs Bondi beach, and received mixed reviews from visitors.
A NSW government website bluntly lists what is not allowed at the beach including riding bikes, getting dropped off by a family member and even visiting without a booking – with some slamming the rules as ‘un-Australian’.
A New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) spokesperson told Newshub they are aware of reports of a New Zealander drowning in New South Wales.
“We have not been contacted by anyone for assistance,” the spokesperson added.
Australian police said a report would be prepared for the Coroner.
Tongan mum who was a victim of a fatal stabbing incident in Australia will be farewelled at the first week of the New Year.
‘Ana Afā Fesimata Moimoi
‘Ana Afā Fesimaka Moimoi died on Thursday 21 after she was allegedly murdered by her neighbour, Dorothy Jane Downie, in her apartment in an up-market suburb of Brisbane.
A prayer service for the 43-year-old mother-of-one, will be held this Saturday at the George Hartnett Metropolitan Funerals, 783 Zillmere Rd, Aspley.
An All Night Prayer Service will be held on Tuesday, January 2 at 5pm at the Geebung Uniting Church , 59 Simla Ave, Geebung.
On Wednesday 3, according to the family, Moimoi’s funeral service is expected to be held at the Geebung Uniting Church.
She is expected to be laid to rest at the Nudgee Cemetery at 10am, 493 St Vincents Rd, Nudgee.
Moimoi was allegedly stabbed before she was taken to the Royal Brisbane Women’s Hospital, where she died.
The 55-year-old suspect has been charged with murder and enter dwelling with intent.
Downie’s matter was mentioned for the first time in Brisbane Magistrates Court on Friday.
Daniel Hannay, of Hannay Lawyers, said police had raised concerns about his client’s possible capacity issues as she had some history of “ delusions of grandeur and psychosis”, the Courier Mail reported.
Police are urging festivalgoers to take care over New Year celebrations – and in particular to watch their drinks.
This weekend will see Rhythm and Vines in Gisborne and Rhythm and Alps near Wānaka among music events ushering in 2024.
Police issued statements on both festivals this morning, urging people to take care of themselves and their friends.
“Be sensible, and make sure everyone gets home safely,” a spokesperson said.
“Always have a plan on how to get to and from an event safely.
“Have a plan b and keep an eye on your alcohol consumption, always eat something substantial if you are planning to drink and encourage your friends to do the same.”
Police also warned people to be careful of drink spiking.
“Watch your drinks and don’t accept drinks you haven’t seen poured, the last thing you want is somebody tampering with your drink.
“We all have a responsibility to ensure our friends and whānau are safe this summer, so keep an eye out and report any concerns you have,” a spokesperson said, adding that people should also be mindful of their valuables.
“Having your valuables stolen can ruin your celebrations.
“If you are taking a car to the festival, make sure all valuables are kept out of sight, all doors are locked, and the windows are up.
“Keep your phone, keys and wallet in a safe place that is unlikely to easily fall out of a pocket.”
Police officers and security will be at both of the popular festivals.
Anyone who feels unsafe is asked to call 111, and anyone with non-urgent concerns is asked to call 105.
“During New Year we often see a peak in people driving on the roads, so be patient, keep calm, drive sober and if you are feeling tired – pull over,” the spokesperson added. “All drivers can expect to be breath-tested daily throughout the event.”
Tonga Police have launched a homicide investigation after two fishermen found human remains on the seabed in water around the Nuku’alofa’s Yellow Pier.
Tonga Police. Photo/Kalino Lātū
Police said the fishermen made the startling discovery on Christmas Day but provided no further details.
It said the unidentified human remains have been transferred to the mortuary at the Vaiola Hospital awaiting thorough examination by a pathologist.
The result is expected to assist Police investigations and hopefully with identification of the deceased, the Police said.
Tonga Police is urging the public for any information that may help police investigations including information on any missing persons that may have not reached police.
“Please contact Police on 922, 740-1630 or 740-1632 with any information”.
