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PM accuses Kaniva News of spin, but does not deny gov’t relationship with contractors

By
Kalino Latu
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Commentary: Prime Minister Pōhiva Tu’i’onetoa has accused Kaniva News of spin over the government’s quarry contract agreement.

Hon. Tu’i’onetoa did not deny the relationship between the government and the contractors we reported. He also spun his statement to make his readers think  Kaniva had released misleading and incomplete information.

Editor of Kaniva Tonga News Kalino Lātū, Prime Minister Pōhiva Tu’i’onetoa.

“I wish to clarify the government’s decision was not based on blood relationship ground and closed working ties as what the news was trying to put a spin on “na’e hehema ki ai e fakamatala ko eni”,” the Prime Minister said in a press statement in Tongan.

“The government wishes to say it’s important to release news which is truthful and fair for the people of the country and to stop releasing news that was incomplete and misleading.”

The Prime Minister should think twice before completely rejecting criticisms from the public about what they see as a conflict of interest in the way his government offered  the quarry contract agreements to companies which have strong family connections.

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He should be aware that in New Zealand, Australia and the USA conflict of interest is a big issue when it comes to government or private company procurements.

This means conflict of interest is a matter of interest  for Tongans who are now living in New Zealand, Australia and the United States where the Tongan population is bigger than in the kingdom.

These people have criticised Hon. Tu’i’onetoa’s road project on social media. They have the right to do so because these are the people who send millions of pa’anga in remittances to Tonga every year and upon which the country’s economy relies.

In these countries, conflict of interest is not treated lightly, unlike the situation in Tonga where a clear conflict of interest is being treated as if it is unimportant.

Whenever a contract for advertising to run on Kaniva News from the New Zealand government is being prepared, the government agency wants to know whether there is any conflict of interest. A maintenance supply form was sent to Kaniva News  asking whether the supplier was  aware of any conflict of interest  that may exist between the supplier and the government agency in relation to existing or future transactions?

In his attempts to justify the family and government connection with the quarry contractors, the Prime Minister  said no law had been breached.

He gave two examples to justify his actions. He said he was a Professional Auditor (Chartered Accountant) who worked as Auditor General for so many years. He said the code of ethics for Chartered Accountants allowed the accounting firm to perform the auditing work and  provide the accounting services for the same business and that was conflict of interest in which in his own interpretation it was legal in Tonga.

In most countries high standards are expected of public servants, government ministers, MPs and professionals.

In New Zealand there have been cases of lawyers and accountant companies being fined for breaching conflict of interest. “A Wanaka accountant has been ordered to pay more than $26,000 after he was appointed receiver of a failed winemaker despite an obvious conflict of interest.”

The New Zealand Public Service says: “The strength of any government system lies in the extent to which it  earns  and  holds  the  respect  of  its  citizens.  That  respect  comes  from  the  confidence  which  people  have  in  the  integrity  of  government  and  the  services  it  provides.

“New  Zealanders  are  entitled  to  the  high  expectations  they  have  of  the  staff in government agencies.  They expect that we are honest, fair, and  loyal.  These  are  absolute  standards.

“New  Zealanders  expect  departments  to  comply  with  both  the  letter and the spirit of the law.  They expect official decisions to be made fairly and impartially.  They expect that public money will be  spent  wisely  and  public  assets  will  be  used  and  cared  for  responsibly.

“Any abuse  of  trust,  abuse  of  resources,  abuse  of  information,  or  personal  opportunism  corrodes  the  entitlement  of  all  New  Zealanders.”

The Australian Public service says: “The public is entitled to have confidence in the integrity of their public officials, and to know that an employee’s personal interests do not conflict with his or her public duties.”

Government officials, whether elected or appointed, are held to very high standards in many countries. In South Australia, for instance, government  ministers are expected to not only follow a ministerial code of conduct, but to ensure that they always appear to be doing so. In this way there can be no suspicion of ministers behaving improperly.

In some countries members of the government, whether elected or appointed, are expected to resign where conflicts of interest are serious enough. President Nixon was forced to resign in 1974 in the face of the Watergate investigation.

In July this year Tunisian Prime Minister Elyes Fakhfakh resigned amid suspicions of conflict of interest because of his stake in a waste processing company that won government contracts worth €15 million (NZ$26 million.)

Nobody is suggesting that Hon. Tu’i’onetoa should resign, but he should stop trying so hard to downplay people’s concerns. There is no doubt most Tongans want the road project and see it as a priority. However, they are deeply concerned about the background of the people who have strong links with government and these contractors.

There have also been concerns about the independence of the Procurement Committee because it was a government committee.

The government must listen to these concerns.

Homicide investigation launched in South Auckland after body found in burning car

By
Kaniva Staff
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This story was originally appeared on TVNZ and is republished with permission

Police have launched a homicide investigation after a body was found in a vehicle on fire in Auckland’s Manurewa this morning.

1 NEWS
Source: 1 NEWS

Detective Inspector Chris Barry, of Counties Manukau Police, said emergency services were called to the scene on Alfriston Road at about 3am.

Firefighters extinguished the fire, then a body was found, Barry said.

“Police quickly attended and we have established a cordon at the scene.

“Police is currently speaking with a man in relation to this matter and he is assisting us with our inquiries.”

Barry said there were diversions in place from the intersections of Alfriston Road and Mill Road, along Alfriston Road to the intersection with Brookby and Alfriston Ardmore Road.

“We thank our community for their patience and understanding as we deal with this incident.

“Police now has a number of inquiries underway to establish the identity of the deceased, and to determine the circumstances of what has occurred. Our priority is to identify the deceased and locate their next of kin.”

PM says savings on price for road materials more important than government relationship with quarry contractors

By
Kalino Latu
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Prime Minister Pohiva Tu’i’onetoa said this morning the relationship between government members and the companies awarded the  quarry contracts was unimportant.

Kaniva News reported yesterday that three companies with strong links to the government had been awarded contracts to supply rocks for a major road project.

PM Pōhiva Tu’i’onetoa. Photo/Kalino Lātū (Kaniva News)

Responding to our report on the awarding of the contracts yesterday, the Prime Minister said the most important news was that the companies had accepted the government’s proposal to pay only $70 for a single load.

“It’s simple arithmetic,” the Prime Minister said.

“Subtract $70 from $190 equals $120 and from $220 that’s $150.”

He said the government may have paid more than double for the quarry material the government had contracted with other companies.

“A huge amount of money has been saved from taxpayers’ money after the prudent decision we made,” Hon. Tu’i’onetoa said.

“But you are wasting your time on writing about how it has been linked to blood relationships as if it was something important.”

As we reported in February, Government road projects in different electorates have been a priority for Hon. Tu’i’onetoa’s government.

The quarry contractors are Island Dredging Limited, City Engineering and Construction Ltd and Inter-Pacific Ltd.

The Minister of Police, Lord Nuku, used to be a Director for Island Dredging. Lord Nuku’s son Faka’osifono Valevale is the current Director of Island Dredging.

Tongan People’s Party Deputy Chairman Etuate Lavulavu was made a Director of Inter-Pacific Limited in February 2016 but was later replaced  by ‘Inoke Finau Vala in May this year.

‘Etuate Lavulavu is married to the Minister of Infrastructure and Tourism. Saia Moehau is the sole Director of City Engineering and Construction Ltd.

Companies with strong government, family, connections awarded road building contracts

By
Kalino Latu
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Prime Minister  Pohiva Tu’i’onetoa has confirmed that three companies with strong links to the government have been awarded contracts to supply rocks for the government’s new multimillion roading project.

Companies with strong government, family, connections awarded road building contracts. (L-R) Saia Moehau, Lord Nuku and ‘Etuate Lavulavu

The contractors are Island Dredging Limited, City Engineering and Construction Limited and Inter-Pacific Limited.

In April the Prime Minister said claims that a contract had been awarded to City Engineering and Constructions were “false and misleading.”

The Minister of Police, Lord Nuku, used to be a Director for Island Dredging but his name was taken off the director’s list on July 31 last year.

Lord Nuku’s son Faka’osifono Valevale is the current Director of Island Dredging.

Tongan People’s Party Deputy Chairman Etuate Lavulavu was made a Director of Inter-Pacific Limited in February 2016 but was later replaced  by ‘Inoke Finau Vala in May this year.

‘Etuate Lavulavu is also the husband of the Minister of Infrastructure and Tourism. Saia Moehau is the sole Director of City Engineering and Construction Ltd and he is a strong supporter of the People’s Party.

The Island Dredging Ltd will supply rocks for Tongatapu 10, Tt9, Tt2, Tt4 and Tt3. City Engineering will supply rocks for Tongatapu 6, Tt7, Tt5, Tt8, and Tt1. Inter-Pacific Ltd will supply rocks for Vava’u 16, VV15, and VV14.

The names of the three contractors were revealed on social media in June. Democrat MPs accused the Prime Minister and his Government in Parliament of nepotism and conflict of interest in regards to the road project.

Opposition MPs claimed that other contractors involved in the bid for the contract were cheaper than the government’s favoured contractors.

Kaniva News reported in April this year that the government claimed it could  not afford to pay the market price of between TP$190 and TP$220 for the rocks and so had lawfully cancelled the procurement process.

The Prime Minister said at the time it was following due process for the procurement contract.

Hon. Tu’i’onetoa then said the government had set the price at TP$70 for each truck load.

Online abuse and cyber crime bill introduced by Tu‘i‘onetoa government

By
Kalino Latu
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A bill to tackle online abuse and cyber crime is being introduced by the Tu’i’onetoa government.

It aims to make it an offence to post content that is offensive, threatening, defamatory and causes distress.

Prime Minister Pōhiva Tu’i’onetoa

Known as the Internet Abuse Offences Bill 2020, the Prime Minister said this was “a very important bill for the poor people of the nation.”

Tu’i’onetoa told local media the people had been bullied and intimidated on social media.

He said some people created fake accounts on Facebook to hide their identity while defaming others.

“It’s going from worse to worst,” he said.

The bill, containing 26 clauses and 19 pages, is expected to be submitted to Parliament this week.

The bill came after a move by the Late ‘Akilisi Pohiva government last year to shut down Facebook after vicious allegations of a sexual nature against the royal family was posted to Facebook.

Prime Minister ‘Akilisi Pōhiva said at the time the government had been long concerned about people abusing Facebook.

Supreme Court adjudicates on custody dispute; guardian reports on best interests of children

By
Kaniva Staff
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The Supreme Court has adjudicated on a custody dispute involving a separated couple.

The court was told that the couple became estranged after the wife began an affair with another man while the husband was away working overseas under seasonal picking fruit programmes.

The husband subsequently sought custody of all the children, three boys aged 11, 8 and 7, and two girls aged 5 and 3, which was granted by the magistrate’s court.

The wife appealed and was given custody by another magistrate.

Before the current case the three boys went to live with their father’s mother. The girls were living with their mother’s sister.

The court ordered that a guardian be appointed to investigate the best interests of children Following the guardian’s report, Judge Niu ordered that the two daughters remain with their mother.

He ordered that the three sons be given into the custody of the father.

He ordered that the parents have access to all the children at set times during the weekend.

Judge Niu ordered that maintenance and school expenses of the children will be provided by the parent in whose custody the children are.

“Each parent shall ensure that each child is properly cared for and shall be responsible for the good health, honesty, discipline and religious teaching of the children in his/her custody,” the judge said.

Manhunt underway for escaped prisoner in Vava‘u

By
Kalino Latu
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A manhunt is underway in Vava’u after a jail break by an inmate at Ha’alefo prison.

Petuliki Lave. Photo/Supplied

The male prisoner, Petuliki Lave is still at large, Vava’u Town Officer Vāvā Lapota said.

It is understood the break-out happened yesterday morning Saturday 31 October.

The details of the incident have yet to be released.

A scanned photo of Vake was released on social media with Police encouraging anyone with any information to contact the Police on 71234.

Heavy rain causes severe flooding in Vava‘u

By
Kalino Latu
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Heavy rain has caused flooding on many homes in Neiafu this morning.

Its town officer described it as the worst flooding since the last 10 years.

Roads in Neiafu affected by the floodings.

Town Officer Vāvā Lapota said the heavy rain was unexpected and it took about an hour. No reports of injuries.

Some homes in Vaipua and Kāmeli were inhabitable, he said.

“Some churches closed and religious ceremonies were cancelled,” he said.

Lapota said he believed the drains were clogged with leaves and debris.

Editorial: PTOA Core Team’s actions undermine ‘Akilisi Pōhiva’s years of struggle to bring democracy to Tonga and give power to the people

By
Kalino Latu
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Kaniva Editorial

The PTOA Core Team seems to have completely lost sight of ‘Akilisi Pōhiva’s policies and principles.

Their support for the current government and policies that only benefit the nobles threaten to roll back all that the champion of Tongan democracy achieved after the reforms of 2010.

PTOA supporters protesting outside a venue in Mangere, Auckland while PM Pōhiva Tu’i’onetoa was holding a meeting with the Tongan community. Photo/Kalino Lātū

It is a situation that should greatly worry Democrats supporters. The Core Team, which consisted of Democratic Party MPs, no longer seems  dedicated to making the late Prime Minister’s vision of a truly democratic Tonga a reality.

Pōhiva was a political reformist who believed the monarchy needed changes. He believed democracy was the right political system for Tonga. He also believed there was need for some immediate changes and also believed in gradual changes through the existing autocratic system which could eventually lead to fundamental changes.

Pōhiva’s core political policy could be summed up by his mission – to free commoners and tax payers politically from the absolute rule of the monarchy and allow them to control the decision making bodies, the government’s executive branch and Parliament. He said the king would still retain his other powers and entitlements stipulated by the constitution, including keeping his estates, privy purse funded from the people’s taxes and his nobles.

Pōhiva was well aware of the danger of having to totally remove the power of the king and nobility all at once. He said it was good to begin with removing the king’s executive powers.

This was clear when I interviewed him in 2011 after the political changes in 2010 when Tonga became partly a democratic system. He told me he was not satisfied with the changes, especially when the king relied on Lord Sevele ‘O Vailahi to implement the changes. Sevele became Pōhiva’s  and the Democrats’ enemy and he did everything to ensure the changes were not what the Democrats expected.

However, Pōhiva said he was okay with it as long as the changes he had pushed for finally materialised and left the rest for the future. He left this important message for the PTOA Core Team or whoever would step up to carry on his mission.  Pōhiva wanted them to continue pushing for more changes.

New law for king to appoint Secretary for Foreign Affairs

Unfortunately, since Pōhiva’s death the Core Team has done the opposite. In Parliament, the Core Team sometimes appears disorganised. They voted in support of a law to return the power to appoint the Secretary of Foreign Affairs to the king. This was a big blow to Tonga’s democracy and if Pōhiva was still alive he would have strongly opposed this move.  Only his son, Siaosi Pohiva, voted against this bill in parliament

New law to consider tradition and custom during trials

Not only that, the Core Team recently voted in support of the noble-led government to allow courts to use traditions and cultural practices in their decision making. Again this was injurious to the democratic reforms the Party’s founder ‘Akilisi pursued for many years. Only Veivosa Taka from the Core Team voted against. It was ridiculous that when the Bill was put into debate some Core Team MPs spoke against it and suggested ways to support their views, but when the Bill was put to the ballot they all voted for it.

New law to give noble MPs $25,000 constituency allowance

They also voted unanimously in support of a move by the noble MPs to give them constituency funding of $25,000 each. This motion was first put into Parliament last year, but ‘Akilisi  strongly opposed it, saying it was undemocratic because the nobles were not elected by the people and they were unaccountable to taxpayers.

He said if the nine Nobles in Parliament were given the allowance, this would set them apart from other Nobles who were not in the House and would not get the same benefit for their estates.

Democrat frontliner Mateni Tapueluelu, who fiercely attacked the noble MPs move to get a share of the constituency funding at the time, has given a very muted response when the motion was resubmitted and discussed in Parliament this year before it was approved.

Lack of transparency and accountability

The Core Team has recently been criticised for its lack of transparency and accountability in its decision to forgive MP Māteni Tapueluelu after claims were made that he and his brother-in-law Siaosi Pohiva had engaged in a power struggle that may have lost the Party the government in 2019.

The Core Team’s decision to keep the public in the dark was undemocratic and it undermines the public’s confidence in its impartiality.

‘Akilisi was always transparent and come clean about situation like this.

There is a real danger that the Core Team’s continued support for the nobles will encourage them and the government to continue to make laws to roll back the democratic changes of 2010 and return power to the king.

Police officer suspended over accusation of assault

By
Kalino Latu
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A Tongatapu police officer has been suspended after being charged with assault and bodily harm.

A Tongan Police officer. Photo/Kaniva Tonga

The 42-year-old male officer, whose name was not released, faces charges of assault of a police recruit.

The case continues a run of allegations of offending by Tongatapu police in the past few weeks.

As Kaniva News previously reported earlier this month, a police officer was suspended and charged with rape and indecent assault of an 18-year-old young woman who was in police custody.

“I have set standards and expect them to be met from all ranks within the Tonga Police,” Police Commissioner Stephen Caldwell said in a statement after the latest incident.

“Every police officer is accountable to the law, not above it. The public rightly expect the highest levels of professionalism and ethical behaviour from their Police.”

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