The Prime Minister, Hon. Samuela ‘Akilisi Pōhiva will undergo a liver treatment in New Zealand on May 8.
The 78-year-old was in New Zealand two weeks ago to have routine medical checkups.
He returned to Tonga before his office said this afternoon Hon. Pōhiva “is scheduled to undergo a medical procedure at the Mercy Hospital in Auckland.”
“According to Dr. Sione Latu, Physician Specialist at Vaiola Hospital, medical tests were carried out in Auckland in early April and it was determined that the Hon. Prime Minister has a liver complication that the treatment procedure should be carried out on 8th of May.”
Nearly
six weeks after the Prime Minister said there was no need for further public
consultation on new government Bills, the Parliamentary committee dealing with
legislation will start public feedback sessions next week.
The
public will be invited to make written submissions on the six Bills, which the
government wanted debated last month.
As Kaniva Tonga news reported at the time,
the Bills were at the centre of upheavals in Parliament when the Acting Speaker
blocked attempt to have them heard as a matter of urgency.
Noble MPS
also walked out of Parliament during debate over the bills and there were angry
exchanges in the House.
As we
reported, Prime Minister ‘Akilisi Pōhiva resisted pressure from the Nobles to
allow more public consultation on the new Bills.
Hon.
Pōhiva told the House the government had fulfilled all legal requirements
before the new Bills and amendments were to be submitted to the House.
The
government had previously been using radio talk back to gauge public opinion
about the Bills.
However,
Radio New Zealand reported that the Prime Minister later withdrew the Bills,
citing a need for public consultation.
The Bills,
which were originally tabled in March, are:
Bill no.
15/2019 – Act of Constitution of Tonga (Amendment) Bill
2019
Bill no.
16/2019 – Act of Constitution of Tonga (Amendment)
(No.2) Bill 2019
Bill no.
17/2019 – Tonga Police (Amendment) Bill 2019
Bill no.
18/2019 – Magistrate’s Courts (Amendment) Bill 2019
Bill no. 19/2019 – Judicial and Legal Service Commission Bill 2019
Bill no.
20/2019 – National Spatial Planning and Management
(Amendment) Bill
Public meetings will start next
week.
A public awareness programme
providing information about the Bill began today.
The Members of the Parliamentary Standing Committee
on Legislation will host public meetings in Vava’u from May 6–10, followed by meetings
in Ha’apai from May 13-14, Tongatapu from May 15-22 and ‘Eua on May 24.
The
timetable of the consultation programme can be found on the government website,
http://www.parliament.gov.to, the Facebook page Fale
Alea ‘o Tonga, or by phoning 27912.
Radio
announcements will also provide details on the dates and venues of upcoming
public consultation meetings.
The main
points
Nearly six weeks after the Prime Minister said there
was no need for further public consultation on six new government Bills, the Parliamentary
committee dealing with legislation will start public feedback sessions next
week.
The public will be invited to make written submissions
on the six Bills, which the government wanted debated as a matter of urgency
last month.
For more
information
Acting
Speaker shuts down discussion on new Bills, tells House to come back the next
day
A new partly government-owned
dialysis centre is set to open in Tonga soon and a newly registered company has
been set up to run the operation, it has been claimed.
The facility
would be established “at no cost to the government,” a reliable source within
the Ministry of Health told Kaniva news.
The source
said a private company in Salt Lake City was partnering with the Ministry.
It said the
US organization involved philanthropists who wanted to leave some of their
money and wealth to charity.
No further
details were available. The source said a statement would be officially
released soon about the centre.
As Kaniva news reported at the time, the
Ministry has said in the past that it could not fund its own dialysis programme
“because it would eat up 20 percent of the annual health budget for less than
one percent of the population and it is not equitable distribution of meagre resources.”
The Ministry
said there was a 17.7 percent prevalence of diabetes in Tonga, a number revised
after it was regionally reported as 34.4 percent.
The Minstry
said there were 200 patients in the kingdom with varying degrees of kidney
disease and around 66 patients, or a third, are in Stage 5, requiring renal
replacement therapy, or dialysis.
Tongan
patients in New Zealand and around the globe have faced a painful death if they
were sent back to Tonga because dialysis was not available there.
Last year a
Tongan national, Tamahanga Tukunga, was among a growing number of Tongans in
New Zealand who requested help from the New Zealand government.
He received
dialysis three days a week and as a foreign national he was not entitled to
that treatment and could be deported to Tonga within a year.
His treatment
was paid by his relatives through fundraising, including sausage sizzles back
in Tonga, and sending yams to sell in New Zealand.
The cost of
the medical treatment was always a critical factor for overseas countries in
deciding whether or not to grant visas to Tongan patients.
As Kaniva news reported recently, Sosefo
Lakalaka was ordered to leave New Zealand by May 2019 after a tribunal found
the burden on New Zealand’s public health system outweighed the exceptional
humanitarian circumstances of his case.
Mr Lakalaka was
paying off a $US10,768 medical bill and his ongoing treatment was costing the
taxpayer $US13,463 a year.
A Tongan
international and ‘Ikale Tahi player Sione Vaimo’unga, who was trapped in
Romania on dialysis, was luckier after Tonga’s Ministry of Health sought
support from the Romanian government in 2017.
The Pacific
Rugby Players Welfare finally reported last year that Vaiomo’unga was
recovering well from a transplant after he had been on dialysis after being
diagnosed three years previously.
The main points
A
new partly government-owned dialysis centre is set to open in Tonga soon and a
newly registered company has been set up to run the operation, it has been
claimed.
The
facility would be established “at no cost to the government,” a reliable source
within the Ministry of Health told Kaniva news.
The
source said a private company in Salt Lake City was partnering with the
Ministry.
The Asian Development Bank’s chief economist, Yasuyuki Sawada, will visit Tonga for a two day visit this week.
He will be
in the kingdom from April 29-30.
Tonga has received
$70.2 million in loans, $121.2 million in grant and $23.3 million in technical
assistance from the ADB since 1972.
The bank has
significantly increased its financial support since 2008.
Last year
the ADB warned that Tonga was one of six Pacific countries facing high risks of
debt distress.
It said Tonga
was the worst off, with public sector debt totalling 56 percent GDP.
The bank
said the problem stemmed from a narrow economic base, vulnerability to economic
shock and climate change.
According to
a Reuters report, Chinese loans accounts for more than 60 percent of Tonga’s
total external debt burden.
ADB projects
in Tonga include projects aimed at increasing access to solar power and to
improve energy efficiency.
It is also
financing work on climate change adaptation, cyclone recovery, urban
development and public sector management.
While he is
in Tonga, Sawada will meet with Tonga’s Deputy Prime Minister Hon. Semisi Sika,
Chief Secretary and Secretary to Cabinet Edgar Cocker, Minister for Finance Hon.
Pohiva Tu’i’onetoa, and the Governor of the National Reserve Bank, Dr. Sione Ngongo Kioa.
Sawada will
present the 2019 Asian Development Outlook (ADO), which includes the Tongan
economy as part of the Pacific region.
Hon. a
Tu’i’onetoa said Tonga’s economy was benefitting from ADB investment in the
kingdom.
The Minister
will lead Tonga’s delegation to the ADB’s 52nd annual meeting in Fiji at the
beginning of May.
The
main points
The
Asian Development Bank’s chief economist, will visit Tonga for a two day
visit next week.
Last
year the ADB warned that Tonga was one of six Pacific countries facing high
risks of debt distress.
It
said Tonga was the worst off, with public sector debt totalling 56 percent GDP.
The Supreme Court has sentenced a Sri Lankan man who entered the kingdom on a forged French passport to two years jail.
Vaseeth
Samsudeen pleaded guilty to two counts of knowingly dealing with a forged
document.
In his
report on the case, Lord Chief Justice Paulsen said Samsudeen entered Tonga on May 10 last year.
Samsudeen told Police his life had been threatened
after witnessing the murder of aid workers in 2006.
He entered
the UK illegally in 2010 and was deported to Sri Lanka in 2015.
He told
Police that he entered Tonga after flying to Fiji from Hong Kong, where he paid
a large sum of money for the forged French passport.
The court
was told Samsudeen had co-operated with police.
He first
appeared in court in December 2018, but was released on bail while the court
made further enquiries.
The court
was told Samsudeen had been provided with information about the United Nations
High Commissioner for Refugees.
However,
there was no indication he had sought assistance from the UNHCR.
The court
suspended his sentence on condition that Samsudeen leave Tonga within two
months of sentencing.
He was
ordered not to leave Tongatapu until then.
He was
ordered to pay TP$1000 to the court by May 17.
His Sri
Lankan passport is to be released to him only upon approval from a Supreme
Court Judge and after payment of the TP$1000 and the purchase of his ticket.
The
main points
The
Supreme Court has sentenced a Sri Lankan man who entered Tonga on a forged
French passport to two years jail.
The
man’s sentence has been upended on condition that he leave the kingdom within
two months.
A man has been taken to hospital in a critical condition following a shooting at Mount Wellington Highway in Auckland.
Police were called about 1.50pm to a report of a person being shot at a commercial site.
Armed police are now standing guard outside the Harley-Davidson motorbike shop.
The injured man is undergoing surgery at Auckland Hospital.
Police said initial inquiries suggest a person has fled the area immediately after the incident.
Police said the person who fled was known to them and they were following strong lead to locate and apprehend him.
Police have also seized CCTV footage of the incident. Clothes with blood on them are being placed in evidence bags, and exhibit numbers are being set out.
Cordons are in place around the immediate area and police are advising people to avoid the area.
Harley Davidson chief executive Ray Pratt said he heard gunfire which he thought was outside the building.
He said the store was in lockdown and being treated as the site of crime scene.
This article is republished under Kaniva’s partnership content agreement with Radio New Zealand.
A Senior Custom Officer has been arrested following a major
drug bust in Nuku’alofa on Wednesday 24 at Kuini Salote Wharf.
The 59-year-old man has been charged with nine charges under the Illicit Drugs Control Act for engaging with others to import illicit drugs and also under the Arms and Ammunition Act for abetting the importation of illegal firearms and ammunition.
He is remanded in police custody while investigation continues.
Custom officers intercepted $6 million worth of drugs which was an equivalent of 6.7 kilograms of methamphetamine, 625.29 grams of cannabis, and 107.29 grams of cannabis oil which were smuggled into the country through a shipment from the United States of America.
Illegal firearms including 1 M4 Assault rifle, 2 Glock pistols and 1 handgun with relevant ammunition were also found in the shipment.
Deputy Police Commissioner Pelenatita Vaisuai said this is a significant result for Police and Customs joint efforts in their war against drugs, and will go a long way to help keep our communities safe.
“These drugs and firearms, should they have made it to the
streets, would have caused significant harm to our people and communities.”
Hon. Frederica Fatafehi ‘O Lapaha Filipe has taken to
Facebook in reponse to an article in Kaniva
news this week which reported that her husband, Sione Filipe Jr, had been arrested
and charged with importing illicit drugs.
The story was reported against a background of a number of drug related raids and arrests by
police in the kingdom.
The article reported that Filipe was Frederica’s
parents’ son-in-law.
Hon. Frederica is Princess Pilolevu and Lord Tuita’s
second youngest daughter and a niece of King Tupou VI.
Our article was published on Tuesday night and Hon.
Frederica took to Facebook the following morning to defend her husband.
Comments posted in response to her statements include
complaints that Filipe’s family connections were mentioned.
A number of attacks were made on Kaniva news, including claims that the story was not true.
However, Hon. Frederica has never denied that her
husband was arrested and charged with alleged importation of illicit drugs as
reported by Kaniva.
As Kaniva news
reported on Tuesday the Minister of Police, Mateni Tapueluelu said it was “true
Filipe Jr was arrested and is bailed, but has been formally charged for
importing illicit drugs.”
Hon. Frederica has posted documents on Facebook which
purport to show that her husband had
been granted permission by the government to import cannabis.
Kaniva news
cannot comment on this claim. It is something for the court to decide when her
husbands’ case come up for trial.
Kaniva news stands by its story – confirmed by the Minister of Police – which simply reported that Sione Filipe Jr had been arrested and charged with the illegal importation of drugs.
Kaniva news
did not – and cannot – make any claim about the vailidity of those charges.
That is entirely a matter for the court.
The main points
Hon.
Frederica Fatafehi ‘O Lapaha Filipe has taken to Facebook in reponse an article
in Kaniva news this week which
reported that her husband, Sione Filipe Jr, had been arrested and charged with
importing illicit drugs.
The
story was reported againt a background of a number of drug related raids and
arrests by police in the kingdom.
For more information
Princess
Pilolevu’s son-in-law arrested for alleged importation of illicit drugs as
Police arrest 17 others in separate incidents
The kingdom of Tonga chose not to take sides at the beginning of the First World War, but British
officials were uncertain how far that neutrality went.
At the beginning of the 20th century, with Great
Britain, France, Germany and the United Stae all vying for power in the
Pacific, King Tupou II signed a friendship treaty with Great Britain.
When war broke out in 1914, Tonga declared its neutrality.
According to Jan-Hai Te Ratana of Aranui Library, the kingdom had good relations
with both Britain and Germany and Tonga was home to many German traders and
importers.
The German consulate in Nukualofa was eclipsed in size only
by the British.
And the British were not entirely sure where Tonga stood.
During a visit to Nuku’alpofa just before the war, Sir Maui Pomare reported
that fewer British flags were flying than German or Tongan ones.
Nor did it escape his notice just how many German goods were
available in the shop, ranging from tinned meat to beer.
And there was more to worry the British. At the end of 1916,
the British Consul in Tonga wrote to the High Commissioner in Suva to express
his concerns about what he called the “German sympathies” of King Tupou II.
According to New Zealand historian James Baade, the Consul
reported that the King wore ceremonial
decorations supplied by the Germans. He complained that in the King’s Palace – built
in 1867 by the German firm Godeffroy – there were large portraits of Kaiser
Wilhelm II and Chancellor Otto von Bismarck.
While Tonga maintained her neutrality, the British pressured
Tonga to fall in line with her war aims.
The British Consul identified 150 people living in Tonga as
“enemy aliens.” They included Germans, Samoans, and New Guinea Islanders
including wives and families. Some were deported to New Zealand, while others
continued a restricted life stayed in Tonga.
Despite this – and the recruitment of a small number of
volunteer in 2016 – King Tupou II kept the kingdom from officially taking sides
during the conflict. While Tonga officially became a British protectorate in
1900, the king had refused to sign the clause which gave Britain the power to
determine Tongan foreign policy.
This meant that Tonga remained self-governing and was able
to preserve – at least technically – her
neutrality during the First World War.
The main points
The kingdom of Tonga chose not to take sides at
the beginning of the First World War, but British officials were uncertain how
far that neutrality went.
The kingdom had good relations with both Britain
and Germany and Tonga was home to many German traders and importers.
During a visit to Nuku’alpofa just before the
war, Sir Maui Pomare reported that fewer British flags were flying than German
or Tongan ones.
For more information
The Kingdom
of Tonga – Pasifika involvement in the First World War
