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Bou Fashion say contestants knew they would collect cash prizes after the show

By
Kalino Latu
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The organiser of the Bou Fashion beauty pageant competition claimed contestants were told they would receive empty envelopes at Friday night’s award and would collect their cash prizes later.

Two contestants had already picked up their cash prizes by today, June 25.

They were the Miss Kahoa Kakala ‘O Tonga, Samantha Ma’asi, who won the NZ$2600 prize and Miss Pouono Krafts who won the $900 cash prize.

Organiser Tupou Tanginoa Fonua made the clarification after some audience members at Friday night’s awards were surprised to hear the contestants opened their envelopes and found nothing inside them.

One supporter claimed the contestants were not told they would receive empty envelopes.

One contestant’s promoter said she only found out from the Bou Fashion staff during the awards ceremony that her contestant would have to collect her cash prizes later.

When asked for comments, Fonua sent Kaniva News a screenshot of the following Facebook post:

“As discussed with our Miss BOU’S contestants they will return clothes which I provided during the pageant and they will pick up their cash prizes today. Two contestants have been already this morning to pick up theirs (sic) cash prizes so far…

“Miss Kahoa Kakala O Tonga – Samantha Maasi $2600. Miss Pouono Krafts – Fetu’u ‘Uluaki $900.”

She also posted a photo of Miss Pouono Krafts holding dollar notes.

Fonua also posted two hand-written letters containing the names of ‘Uluaki and Ma’asi with their signatures.

In the letters the undersigned said they “confirmed” they had received their cash prizes today.

In response, a person by the name of Stephanie Maryannie Ma’asi Fukofuka wrote:  “It was not discussed or we wouldn’t have opened the envelopes expecting cash in there LOL but finally…a little exposure does the trick…”

She earlier wrote: “My sister received (four empty) envelopes you claim we have to collect which we have yet heard from!”

A promoter of the winner of the beauty contest, Miss Luana Fifita, said she collected four envelopes for her niece’s prizes and they were all empty.

“I saw the envelopes with the amount won, opened it and there’s no money and I click that they don’t put money inside. There were so many people and the girls just put the envelopes on the table and everyone was everywhere.  So to confirm I ask one of Bou’s staff just to make sure and she confirmed, money will be collected after. So we were happy to collect it later,” Sisifa Manoa Tangi told Kaniva News.

The winners of the Miss Bou’s Pageant competition were:

Winner – Miss 312 Barbars -Luana Fifita

1st Runner Up – Miss Kahoa Kakala O Tonga – Samantha Ma’asi.

2nd Runner Up – Miss Ciora Karaoke Bar – Dominique Sevele

3rd Runner Up – Miss Pouono Krafts – Fetu’u Uluaki

1st – Pre Pageant Interview- Miss Ciora Karaoke Bar – Dominique Sevele.

1st Tau’olunga – Miss Kahoa Kakala O Tonga – Samantha Ma’asi

1st Puletaha – Miss 312 Barbers – Luana Fifita

1st Sarong – Miss Hala Vaiola – ‘Evalata Vehikite

1st Talent – Miss Vava’u Lahi Night Club – Epenisa Hafoka

1st Stage Interview – Miss Pouono Krafts – Fetu’u Uluaki.

Tongatapu fire destroys house, bus and a van

By
Kalino Latu
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A house, a bus and an eight-seater new van were destroyed by a blaze on Sunday morning in Kahoua.

One report says a tractor was also destroyed.

There were no reports of injuries.

Kaniva News understands the house and the vehicles belonged to Tevita Pale and Sela Pale Na’a of Kahoua.

The Pales owned four buses and other vehicles.

It is understood the family did not have enough time to move all the vehicles out of the scene when the fire started.

Relatives and friends of the Pales took to Facebook to express their sympathy to the family.



The Tonga Fire and Emergency Services was contacted for comment.

Video shows Police officers threw men to floor in Tongatapu

By
Kalino Latu
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Scroll down to watch the video clip

A viral video shows police officers at the back of a parked Police van throwing two persons on the floor of a Police van.

A Police officer threw a man on the floor while a second man was apparently thrown into the back of the pick van by another Police officer.

The van was parked in the middle of a road intersection with its blue and red lights flashing.

It appeared the video was recorded after Police were trying to resolve an incident involving the two men.

The shocking footage was recorded last night in Nuku’alofa.

Kaniva News could not be able to independently verify the authenticity of the footage.

The video clip was uploaded to Facebook by a person known as Tai Tu’itavuki.

Ok Tonga Police what’s going on here 👿🤦🏽‍♂️

Posted by Tai Tu'itavuki on Saturday, June 23, 2018

Tu’itavuki told Kaniva News through Facebook the incident was recorded last night.

It has since been viewed more than 22,000 times and shared 494 times. It has 153 comments and received 142 reactions.

The footage has divided the online community with some people insisted this kind of Police brutality has to be stopped while others stood by the Police officers.

Some said they wanted to know the “full story” before they formed an opinion.

“[There] must be two sides of this video,” one commenter wrote.

Some people stood by the Police officers.

“When you are told to leave you have to go. Be obedient and the Police would not beat you,” another wrote in Tongan.

“Police officers are fed up with youths causing crimes and disorder.”

But many people were outraged by the clip.

“These Police officers should be sent to court,” another wrote in Tongan.

“The Police officers never learnt from the past incidents,” one wrote referring to a number of violent incidents in which Police officers got involved and some ended up being imprisoned or dismissed as a result.

Some commenters wrote swear Tongan words about the Police officers action.

Mate Ma’a Tonga overpowers Samoa in Pacific test

By
Kaniva Staff
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[AAP] Tonga’s case for a rugby league test against Australia is gaining strength, pushing their case with a 38-22 defeat of Samoa in Sydney.

Fresh off their semi-final appearance at last year’s World Cup, the Mate Ma’a ran in six first-half tries before holding off a late comeback in front of 17,802 fans on Saturday night at Campbelltown Stadium.

Jason Taumalolo and Will Hopoate starred, as the Tongans’ combined 1501 games of NRL experience was brought to the fore.

The performance comes as an end-of-year test against the Kangaroos remains a possibility, a match that might create more of a build-up than any other international in years.

“I’d love to see this team play Australia at the end of the year,” rugby league immortal Andrew Johns said on the Nine Network’s commentary.

“On what I’m seeing tonight, definitely (they’d challenge the Kangaroos), without a shadow of a doubt.”

After Samoa opened the scoring through James Gavet in the second minute, Tonga ran in 36-straight points and controlled 70 per cent of possession in the 40 minutes that followed.

Hopoate finished with one try and had a hand in three others to go with his nine tackle busts, while the barnstorming Taumalolo had a hand in two tries and totalled 164 metres.

Andrew Fifita – who opted to represent Tonga ahead of playing in this year’s State of Origin series – was also powerful early with four tackle busts and five offloads, as was second-rower Sio Siua Taukeiaho who has opted for the Pacific nation over the Kiwis.

Samoa mounted a late fightback in the second half through tries to Tim Lafai, Tyrone May and Jorge Taufua, but it was too little too late after Tonga’s opening 40 minutes.

Tonga have never played Australia in a test, however the cause has been championed this week by Taumalolo.

The Pacific nation shocked New Zealand at the World Cup, and went within a last- minute knock-on of beating England in the semi-finals.

Photos show men detained by residents in early morning incident in Vava‘u

By
Kalino Latu
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Dramatic photos posted on social media appear to show two men allegedly arrested by residents in Vava’u.

The photos appear to show incidents at about 2am today during which two men were detained by residents of Neiafu and Ta’anea.

The incident occurred after residents were warned about a number of break-ins in the area.

Neiafu Town Officer Vava Lapota told Kaniva News he was aware of the incidents and the photos of the two men being shared on Facebook.

One of the pictures posted on-line showed a shirtless man lying on his stomach in the grass with his face supported by one of his hands. He looked distressed.

The second photo showed another shirtless man who has a tattoo on his body having his hands tied with rope while some people are holding his face up.

Lapota said he talked to the residents after the arrests and it appeared they thought the duo had been acting suspiciously.

He said he was aware Police had been called to the scene and took the two suspects into custody.

Lapota said no charges had been laid against the men.

He alleged the residents beat the two men.

Earlier this week Lapota told Kaniva News there had been reports of men with their faces covered entering homes in Neiafu.

He said intruders picked on homes where they thought the occupants were either widows or women whose husbands were overseas under New Zealand’s Recognised Seasonal Employer and Australia’s Seasonal Worker programmes.

Lapota said he alerted the locals about the incidents and the reaction from the community showed the people were well aware of the incidents.

The Town Officer said he patrolled part of Neiafu at night time and in one case met some youths roaming around in the towns. When he questioned them they told him they were patrolling to make sure the community was safe from the intruders.

He said he could hear gunshots during the night and when he went to check he was told they had been fired by locals to warn potential intruders.

Lapota said he warned the locals to look out and report any suspicious behaviour and vehicles. A number of  complaints had been lodged with Police.

Man dies in suspicious circumstances in Vava’u

By
Kaniva Staff
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A man from Matamaka has died in suspicious circumstances.

The incident happened yesterday Friday 22.

It is understood Police have confiscated a gun following the incident.

It is also understood Police are not looking for anyone else in connection to the incident.

Neiafu Town Officer Vava Lapota told Kaniva News an inquest will be held to look into the causes and circumstances around the man’s death.

Tonga defeats Fiji 27-19 in Lautoka

By
Kaniva Staff
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[REUTERS] Tonga scrumhalf Sonatane Takulua slotted a penalty and replacement Dan Faleafa scored a try as Tonga exploited a yellow card to Fiji centre Vereniki Goneva to beat the Pacific Cup Nations champions 27-19 in Lautoka on Saturday.

Goneva, who had earlier scored a try for the Fijians in a pulsating second half after the game had been locked at 7-7 at halftime, was sinbinned for a deliberate knockdown while attempting an intercept with just over 10 minutes remaining.

Takulua’s penalty, his second within the space of three minutes, gave the Tongans a 20-19 lead they extended when Faleafa crossed two minutes later.

Tonga had led 14-7 shortly after halftime when lock Steve Mafi crossed but the Fijians struck back through Goneva and lock Viliame Mata to take a 19-14 lead into the final quarter.

Tonga hooker Paula Ngauamo and Fiji scrumhalf Frank Lomani had scored tries in the first half to leave the match locked at halftime.

Fiji had already wrapped up the shortened Pacific Nations Cup with victories over Samoa and Georgia, but not played Tonga.

Samoa were not involved for this weekend’s international matches due to their World Cup qualifying playoff against Germany next Saturday in Apia.

The second match of the inter-continental playoff is in Germany on July 14 with the winner qualifying directly for the World Cup in Japan and completing Pool A with the hosts, Ireland, Russia and Scotland.

The loser goes into a four-team repechage tournament in November to determine the final qualifier. (Reporting by Greg Stutchbury in Wellington; Editing by Amlan Chakraborty)

Kingdom upbeat on tourism potential despite tiny market share

By
Philip Cass
-

Despite only attracting a tiny proportion of the Pacific’s tourist trade, the kingdom is upbeat about the kingdom’s prospect.

According to a recent report from the South Pacific Tourism Organisation, Tonga only attracted 2.9% of the region’s visitors in 2017.

The SPTO report said 2.13 million tourists visited the region by air last year.

The region’s tourism industry leader, Fiji, recorded 842,884 arrivals.

However, tourism figures were actually up in Tonga, with 64,434 visitors in 2017 compared with 59,130 in 2016.

Speaking a recent tourism promotion event, Tonga’s Ministry of Tourism CEO, Sione Finau Moala-Mafi, said Tonga was on its way to becoming “the ideal holiday hotspot.”

“The Kingdom of Tonga may have been severely struck by Cyclone Gita in February, but it hasn’t dampened the spirits of its local hotel, airline and whale swimming operators,” the Minister said.

“The ‘Friendly Islands’ still has its paradise intact.”

While the number of tourists from Australia to Tonga has declined, the  number of visitors from China, Japan, Europe, the UK, Canada, the United States and New Zealand has increased.

The number of Chinese tourists grew from 1,318 in 2016 to 2,006 in 2017.

For more information

Visitors to Tonga on the Rise

Referee attacked in Vainī rugby union match

By
Kaniva Staff
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A referee was attacked during a Saturday Rugby Union football match in Vainī last week.

The incident occurred during a Tongatapu District Rugby Tournament match between Vainī and Toa Ko Ma’afu rugby team which was held at the Vainī rugby field.

An eyewitness, who asked not to be named, alleged the referee was attacked by a supporter.

One report alleged the referee, Tokomea ‘Ofahulu, was injured.

‘Ofahulu was contacted for comment.

The eyewitness claimed Vainī supporters were unhappy with how the referee controlled the game.

It appears the incident occurred after ‘Ofahulu blew the final whistle and ended the game while the Vainī team was attacking. The match ended in a draw.

The eyewitness alleged there was still time after the final whistle was blown and the timekeeper did not indicate to the referee to end the second half.

Tonga Rugby Union CEO Fe’ao Vunipola said he would request a report on the incident from the referees committee.

Fog causes flight cancellation at Fua’amotu airport

By
Kaniva Staff
-

Flights have been cancelled due to fog at Fua’amotu International Airport this evening.

It forced Air New Zealand flight NZ977 and Virgin Australia flight VA60 from Tonga to Auckland to be delayed, resulting in the cancellation of their return services last night June 21.

According to Virgin Australia’s website the status of its flight VA60 from Tonga to Auckland was “rescheduled” and “delayed.”

The Air New Zealand website says the status of its flight NZ977 from Tonga to Auckland which was expected to arrive at 11.59pm was “reshceduled.”

It is now expected to depart Tonga today June 22 at 12pm.

Nāmoe Sau was at the airport to pick up her husband Rev Viliami Selupe Vea’ila who was one of the Air New Zealand’s passengers.

She told Kaniva News the flight was cancelled because of the fog.

She said the Air New Zealand passengers are expected to check in at 9.30am this morning.

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