A Tongan delegation led by Dr Nailasikau Halatuituia and Maliumoeao Mafi will attend a Māori Pacific Business Forum in New Zealand this week.
The two day
forum is designed to allow Pacific resource owners and Waikato-Tainui to establish
business links.
The forum,
organised by the Pacific Cooperation Foundation will be held at the
Waikato-Tainui College for Research and Development on June 26 – 27.
Representatives
from Fiji, Samoa, Vanuatu, Solomon Islands, New Caledonia, the Cook Islands and
Papua New Guinea will also attend.
The event is
being held jointly by the PCF and Te Ohu Whai Ao, an indigenous business
development trust set up by Māori business leaders.
Its aims
included developing global indigenous business, trade and development.
“While
there are many similarities between Pacific island countries and Aotearoa in
terms of indigenous cultures, ancestry links and natural resources, they also
share similar development challenges,” the Pacific Cooperation
Foundations’ CEO, Don Mann, said.
In an
interview with Kaniva news earlier
this year, Mann said the PCF had a long term goal of creating business
opportunities between Māori business and Pacific islands.
Iwi economic
entities were worth about NZ$40 billion and Pacific nations could learn from
iwi about how indigenous bodies had developed over the years into successful
businesses and managed economic and social transitions.
According to
a recent report, Tainui has $1.4 billion worth of property assets, with an
average annual return to investors of seven percent.
The
main points
A Tongan
delegation led by Dr Naliasikau Halatuituia and Maliumoeao Mafi will attend a
Māori Pacific Business Forum in New Zealand this week.
The twoday
forum is designed to allow Pacific resource owners and Waikato-Tainui to
establish business links.
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 revelation come in a detailed statement from Tonga’s
Ombudsman who released the information in the wake of yesterday’s press
conference on his investigation into allegations of impropriety made by Kele’a newspaper.
The
Ombudsman said the Friendly Island Shipping Agency’s board had failed to
conduct a proper evaluation of the vessel.
The allegation about the ship appeared in Kele’a in Tongan: “Mahalo ‘oku ‘ikai loto ‘a Clive ia ke ta’ofi ‘a e ngaahi fu’u pau’u ‘oku fakahoko ‘e he kau memipa ‘o e poate pea ka ‘ikai ‘oku ne poupou’i pe ‘e ia ‘a e founga fakatakaka ko ‘eni. Hange ko hono fakatau mai ‘e he FISA ‘a e fu’u vaka ko e Niuvakai ‘aia na’e miliona neongo ko hono mahu’inga totonu ‘oku si’i ‘aupito ia ai. “
As Kaniva news reported yesterday, Ombudsman ‘Aisea H. Taumoepeau said that in February 2014, Pacific Royale Shipping sold a vessel to Friendly Island Shipping Agency for NZ$936,500. The vessel was then renamed the MV Niuvakai.
In April 2017, three years after the purchase of the vessel,
New Zealand Marine Brokers inspected and evaluated the MV Niuvakai as worth NZ$350,000.
In 2013 Pacific Royale Shipping, the owners of the MV St Theresa, put forward a business proposal to FISA to consider buying
the ship.
At the time the Cabinet Economic Development Committee was
looking at increasing primary exports to the neighbouring islands Fiji, Wallis,
Samoa, American Samoa and Tuvalu and also to increase shipping runs to the
northern islands of Tonga.
FISA had carried out a comparability exercise comparing
criteria and prices, in particular between MV Baltic and MV St Theresa.
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.
“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 on 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 purchase of the MV Niuvakai
was surrounded by controversy, not least because it was surrounded by financial
complications.
In March 2014 we published details of an e-mail from former
Finance Minister Lisiate ‘Akolo which revealed that the Tongan government had
urged a potential buyer of the former St Theresa to help pay the owners’ loan
with their bank in New Zealand.
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 MV Niuvakai
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.
The
main points
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
revelation come in a detailed statement from Tonga’s Ombudsman who released the
information in the wake of yesterday’s press conference on his investigation
into allegations of impropriety made by Kele’a
newspaper.
The
Ombudsman said the Friendly Island Shipping Agency’ board had failed to conduct
a proper evaluation of the vessel.
A new Tongan business in the Sunshine State, Queensland, Australia has begun importing seafood from Tonga.
Pacific Sunrise Fishing Brisbane started the business to offer high-quality fish from the kingdom to customers in both Brisbane and the Sunshine Coast.
The business was owned and operated by Tongan entrepeneur, Kristian Palu.
The supply came from Pacific Sunrise Fishing Tonga which was operated by Eddie and Rosemarie Palu at Tu‘imatamoana Wharf in Nuku‘alofa. The Tongan supplier has been supplying the Kingdom and other countries, including the USA, Japan and New Zealand for over 14 years.
Kristian said the seafood from Tonga differed in taste and quality to any other seafood available in the Australian market.
“The seafood in Tonga tastes
better! The water is cleaner. And unlike many parts of the world, there is
little pollution in the Tongan waters and these fish are wild caught, not
farmed. The species caught are Valu (Tuna), Hakulā puaka (Swordfish), Hakulā lā
(Marlin), Mahimahi (Dolphinfish) and more.”
Pacific Sunrise Fishing Brisbane received orders throughout the week with a Sunday deadline for delivery the following Wednesday. Their fish were offloaded from the boats, packed and delivered to Fua‘amotu International Airport ready for the next flight.
Brisbane’s Tongan Community are
thrilled to welcome yet another new Tongan business to the Sunshine State that
benefits both the economic development of the Kingdom of Tonga and the seafood
market of South-East Queensland.
Staff of the University of the South Pacific at the university’s main Laucala campus in Suva have called for pro-chancellor Winston Thompson to step aside to allow for an independent investigation into alleged abuse and mismanagement to proceed.
This was one of three demands USP staff made in a petition they presented today to the university’s senior management team.
The petition was signed by 500 staff members comprising academic and administrative, and addressed to pro-chancellor Thompson, who is also the university council chair, as well as to his deputy chair Aloma Johansson of Tonga, council members and the university’s vice-chancellor and president, Professor Pal Ahluwalia.
The June edition cover of Islands Business featuring vice-chancellor Professor Pal Ahluwalia. Image: IB
Demand number two in the petition calls for pro-chancellor Thompson to “be recused from council chair immediately,” adding “his public defence of those implicated in the allegations is premature and unprofessional and compromises his position as chair.
“Furthermore, his recent public statements against VC&P Pal Ahluwalia are unprofessional, prejudicial and damaging to the university.”
To regional governments who are owners of the USP, as well as donor partners “especially Australia and New Zealand,” university staff in their petition wanted them to ensure that the investigation into the alleged abuses would be fair, thorough and remedial actions effected.
Closely watching University staff are closely watching the investigation process being led by the USP audit and risk committee.
The committee is headed by Mahmood Khan, a Fiji government nominee to the USP Council, and a chartered accountant who used to work in New Zealand.
In a statement last week, the university council deputy chair Aloma Johansson of Tonga said four Auckland-based accounting firms had been invited to submit bids to undertake the probe.
She said then that the Khan-led committee would meet tomorrow to select the investigation firm.
This Islands Business article was republished by Pacific Media Centre with permission. Kaniva news has a content shared agreement with Pacific Media Centre.
Tonga’s Ombudsman has told the country’s government-owned shipping agency that it must carry out due diligence on buying large ship.
His comment
came after an investigation showed that the Friendly Island Shipping Agency paid
almost three times the value of a 36 year old ship in 2014.
Ombudsman
‘Aisea H. Taumoepeau said at a press conference this morning that in February
2014, Pacific Royale Shipping sold the vessel to FISA for NZ$936,500. The vessel was then renamed MV Niuvakai.
In April
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’s
investigation into the purchase of the over-priced ship was part of a set of
enquiries made into allegation made in Kele’a
newspaper against the Boards of Directors of the Public Enterprises.
The claims
were made in the newspaper on December 24 last year under the heading ‘Pau’u ‘i
he ngaahi Poate, Ngaahi pisinisi ‘a e Pule’anga.’
The allegations about the MV Niuvakai was the only one of six claims to which the Ombudsman gave any credence. He found no evidence to support the newspaper’s other allegations:
Kele’a claimed that PE Boards did not
follow the same procurement process as Government ministries and could spend more
than TP$1million without using the procurement process.
The
Ombudsman said public enterprises had the power to create rules and procedures
to govern their own procurement processes pursuant to Regulation 3(3) of the
Public Procurement Regulations, 2015.
Carrying out their procurement processes according to their rules and
procedures did not breach the Procurement Regulations.
The
Ombudsman said Kele’a did not take up
an offer to provide information to the investigation.
The
newspaper also complained that board members were taking loans from Board
funds.
The Ombudsman said Kele’a’s publisher, Siaosi Pohiva, confirmed the allegation was about an incident alleged to have occurred at the Ports Authority Tonga Ltd (PAT) in 2011 or 2012.
The Ombudsman told this morning’s press conference that PAT said no loans were granted to any Board members during the 2011-2012 financial year and there was no policy to allow for personal loans to be granted to any of its employees or Board members.
PAT said the claim might have referred to a TP$500,000 loan to Waste Authority Limited in that period. The loan account was audited and disclosed in PAT’s Annual Report. The Ombudsman said there was no evidence to support Kele’a’s claims.
The newspaper further alleged that Board members were being paid gratuities, with some bonuses being as high as TP$60,000.
The
Ombudsman said there was no evidence to support the claim. He said Kele’a had been invited to supply
information to help the investigation, but had not done so. Since mid-2018
board directors are only paid their annual director’s fees and meeting fees.
Kele’a complained that one member of the
Board of Directors of a Public Enterprise had a Board meeting in
Barcelona.
In 2017, a
delegation of the Tonga Airports Limited travelled to Barcelona to attend World
Routes 2017, and to finalise documentation and verification to complete the process
for a security bank guarantee due to TAL for breach of contract by a Spanish
contractor, GECI. The Ombudsman said the presence of the delegation in
Barcelona was crucial.
Finally, Kele’a claimed some Board members of Tonga Power Ltd were
paid overtime, when this was normally reserved for low wage earners.
The Ombudsman said that in 2018 the Board of Directors of TPL approved a sub-committee to carry out due diligence of its Enterprise Resource Planning System. The Board ordered the sub-committee to be chaired by Director, ‘Aisake Tu’iono and Director, Fuiva Kavaliku, to work with Mr. Tu’iono on identifying and solving problems for ERP system.
The Board approved payment to the sub-committee members by way of consultancy fees, rather than overtime. Because the work was outside their normal duties of Directors of TPL, it required special rates. The Ombudsman said the payment of special rates was not unreasonable.
The
main points
Tonga’s
Ombudsman has told the country’ government-owned shipping agency that it must
carry out due diligence on buying large hip.
His
comment came after an investigation showed that FISA paid almost three times
the value of a 36 year old ship in 2014.
The fundraising post, republished to Maria Folau’s Instagram page on Friday, explains the couple has spent more than $100,000 on legal fees to fight the termination.
As of Sunday afternoon, a GoFundMe page set up by Israel Folau had raised more than $670,000 of its $3m target.
In a statement, Nicola Britton of GoFundMe Australia said the campaign violated its terms of service.
The statement said the company was committed to the fight for equality for LGBTQI+ people and fostering an environment of inclusivity.
“While we welcome GoFundMe’s engaging in diverse civil debate we do not tolerate the promotion of discrimination of exclusion,” it said.
At the weekend, Rugby Australia chief executive Raelene Castle condemned Folau’s public appeal for money at the weekend.
“From our perspective, [GoFundMe] is a place where sick children get support, so it’s certainly not a strategy we think is appropriate,” Castle said.
A group of lobbyists wants Tongan lawmakers to legalise marijuana for medical reasons, a reliable source has told Kaniva news.
It is understood an attempt by the group through the Prime Minister’s office to discuss the proposal was unsuccessful.
The source did not provide names of the group or how many of them.
Chief Secretary
Edgar Cocker said he was unaware of any “submission – but hemp is illegal
as per the Tonga Drugs Act.”
A Ministry of Health spokesperson said Tonga was too
small to allow marijuana to be used in any form.
Drugs testing lap
Meanwhile, the Minister of Police said in Parliament the government was planning to set up a drug lab in Tonga to provide drugs testing for evidential reasons.
Drugs in Tonga
which need to be tested have to be sent to New Zealand labs.
Hon. Mateni
Tapueluelu said he and the Police Commissioner were expected to attend an
official meeting in New Zealand next month.
He said they would
have an opportunity to visit drugs labs in the country as part of the plan for
Tonga.
He said a drugs lab
in Tonga could speed up work required for fact findings.
Hon. Tapueluelu said the war against illicit drugs was proceeding satisfactorily and TP$1 million had been provided to help the fight.
Rehabilitation concerns
In the meantime,
there was concern in the country that little had been done to rehabilitate drug
users
The
concern was raised by the director of the Mental Health Unit and head
psychiatrist, Mapa Puloka, at a recent workshop in Nuku’alofa.
Dr
Puloka said most of those who came to the hospital for help were put into the
Mental Health Ward, but staff said ineffective services meant many were not
properly cared for, Radio New Zealand international has reported.
There
were almost weekly arrests of drug dealers, especially for methamphetamine or
marijuana offences, and among them were senior Customs officials, who had been
instrumental in “clearing” container shipments of drugs coming into
Tonga from overseas, Dr Puloka said.
While
there is rising concern about the health and addictive impact on users, little
is being done in terms of rehabilitation.
However,
health officials, church and community leaders, as well as NGOs, are meeting
regularly to devise a co-ordinated plan for drug education in schools.
Medical marijuana
Last
year the New Zealand government proposed legalising medical marijuana. The bill
passed its third reading in December with the support of Labour, New Zealand
First and the Greens. The National Party opposition also proposed a Member’s
Bill to implement a medicinal cannabis regime.
Investors
are interested in growing medical marijuana in Vanuatu, but no licences had
been issued yet.
Radio
New Zealand reported that the Vanuatu government had expressed an interest in
looking at the possibility of allowing investment in cannabis or hemp for
medical purposes.
However,
the Director general of Vanuatu’s Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Forestry,
Fisheries and Biosecurity, Moses Amos, said government agencies had yet to work
on relevant legal provisions to cater for medical marijuana investment.
The Australian Parliament has passed legislation to allow for the cultivation of marijuana for medical or scientific purposes. This involved an amendment to the Narcotics Drugs Act 1967 and allows for cultivation through a national licensing scheme.
New sidewalks, road and public facilities upgrades and pre-paid parking are the main focus of a multi-million dollar projects to improve central Nuku’alofa.
The projects have been given a $14 million head start for the constructions of sidewalks which connected Kolomotu’a and Fasimoeafi.
The projects included upgrades to the Queen Salote Memorial hall, Nuku’alofa Primary School, Mala’ekula Royal Tomb, the Sports Complex and areas between Vuna and ‘Amelika wharves.
New public toilets, bus stations and bus stops
were parts of the improvement plans.
An upgrade to the Tonga Maritime Poly-Technical Institute buildings and facilities was part of the plans.
A new sweeper was expected to arrive in Tonga
soon as part of the government’s attempts to keep Nuku’alofa clean.
This was part of the Prime Minister’s vision to upgrade infrastructure and public facilities, the Deputy Prime Minister Hon Semisi Sika told Kaniva news.
He said the Vuna road upgrades were funded by the government through its Ministry of Infrastructure and Tourism’s budgets.
Some of these projects were expected to be funded by foreign donors, he said.
Agricultural
exports doubled in April, according to the latest report from the Reserve Bank
of Tonga.
The bank
said 642.3 tonnes of produce was exported, driven by an increase
in the sale of root crops such a yam, taro and cassava.
The Governor of the Reserve Bank, Sione Ngongo Kioa, said exports of fish had almost tripled compared with the same period last year.
New data for
the fisheries sector showed that exports of fish since the beginning of 2019
averaged 188 metric tons per month compared with an average of 67.2 metric tons
per month in 2018.
Nearly all
the exported fish were tuna, which accounted for 96.6% of the total 164.0
metric tons exported in April.
The export
of aquarium products also rose by 94.7% over the month. Receipts from exports
of fish and other marine products also grew by 3.6% over the same month.
Kioa said a
drop in loan to the industry may indicate that activity in the secondary sector
had slowed.
Loans to the
construction and manufacturing sectors declined by 5.7% and 15.3% respectively.
However,
container registrations rose by 7.7%, largely due to an increased volume of
business containers reflecting active commercial trading.
International
air arrivals also rose by 23.7% and the arrival of two cruise ships during the
month may have supported the tourism sector.
Travel
receipts also recorded a 1.9% increase, whereas receipts for other trades in
services also increased by 19.2%, mostly transport and construction services.
Tonga’s
economic growth prospects remained positive in the medium term, but weather
uncertainty posed a risk.
Official
foreign reserves slightly declined by $0.8 million to $464.2 million during
April. The monthly movement was attributed mainly to repatriation of unspent
project funds and net outflow from interbank foreign exchange deals.
The annual
headline inflation slowed further to 0.2% in April
Foreign
reserves were projected to remain at a comfortable level and inflation was
likely to remain below the reference rate of 5% per annum. The banking system
was anticipated to continue to remain sound.
The
main points
Agricultural
exports doubled in April, according to the latest report from the Reserve Bank
of Tonga.
The
bank said 642.3 tonnes of produce was exported, consisting of an driven by an
increase in the sale of root crops such a yam, taro and cassava.
