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All Black Vaea Fifita’s young son injured in Airport conveyor belt incident

By
Kaniva Staff
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All Black Vaea Fifita’s 1-year-old son, Paula, was injured in an incident at Auckland International Airport on Thursday.

Paula, was carried by a conveyor belt at check-in into Auckland Airport’s luggage handling system at 3pm before security discovered him.

Fifita on Friday thanked airport staff and emergency services for their support.

“He had an operation on his arm and is doing okay,” Fairfax media reports.

Paula was earlier said to be 2 years old, but will turn 2 this month, according to a tweet from the All Blacks.

The incident left him injured and he was in a stable condition in hospital early Friday morning, according to a spokeswoman for Auckland Airport.

Last weekend Fifita posted on Facebook that he was enjoying time with his two boys before they left New Zealand for Tonga this week.

Fifita was named as a reserve for the All Blacks match against France on Saturday night at Eden Park and a spokesperson for the All Blacks confirmed on Friday afternoon that he would take his place in the team on Saturday.

Two investigations have been launched into the incident, one on behalf of Aviation Security (Avsec) and another by Auckland Airport, a spokeswoman for Auckland Airport said.

The incident was at a normal check-in counter and did not involve an automated bag drop, the spokeswoman said.

Qantas and Air New Zealand said their airlines were not involved in the incident according to spokespeople from both airlines.

Fifita, 25, was born in Tonga and moved to New Zealand to take up a rugby scholarship at Tamaki College.

He was named as an All Black in 2017 for the British and Irish Lions tour of New Zealand and played his first test in September against Argentina after which coach Steve Hansen said Fifita was “probably one of the best athletes” he had anything to do with.

No-show witness puts end to incest case

By
Kalino Latu
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A father and his daughter accused of having sexual relationship were acquitted of both counts because the Crown’s only key witness failed to appear at the Nuku’alofa Supreme court.

The father and his daughter were charged with two counts of incest by a female person contrary to section 33 of the Criminal Offences Act.

They had been also accused of committing domestic violence contrary to section 132(1) of the Criminal Offences Act and Domestic

The witness was another daughter of the man.

The court was told the witness launched a complaint with Police after she allegedly saw the couple committing incest.

However, the witness did not comply with her subpoena and was unavailable to give evidence.

Justice Charles Cato said: “I gained the impression that her non-attendance had been foreseen as a possibility before the trial.”

It said because that was the only evidence against the male accused, the Crown offered no evidence and the father was acquitted and discharged on both counts.

The Crown indicated, however, that it had sufficient evidence to proceed against the female accused and so the trial continued against her.

“It became apparent to me when the Crown opened its case that it depended entirely on two statements made by the female accused which were in statement form and not made under caution as required by section 148 of the Police Act if the police officer had sufficient evidence to charge the person at the time questioning commenced,” Justice Cato said.

However, the female accused’s lawyer, Sifa Tū’utafaiva objected to the admissibility of both statements.

Mr Cato said the accused should have been cautioned before making either of her two witness statements.

He said it was only after the accused had declined to agree to be a witness against her father that it appears Police focused on her as a suspect and cautioned her.

“She then responded by denying allegations of incest.

“In these circumstances, I upheld Mr Tu’utafaiva’s objection and ruled the statements inadmissible, the consequence of which meant that there was no evidence against the accused sufficient to support the charges and she was acquitted,” Mr Cato said.

The prosecutor did not seek a  court order at the beginning of the trial to compel the eye witness to come to court and give evidence.

Mr Cato said: “ In any event, I would have been unlikely to have issued a warrant, in the absence of any other evidence against the male accused.  To have issued a warrant for the witness to attend would have meant an indefinite delay in the closure of the case. In any event, even if located and brought to court, it would be problematic whether she would give evidence against her father and the prosecution were aware of this fact.

“I was asked later, after it had become likely that the two statements would not be admitted, for a bench warrant to compel the witness to attend but I declined to do so for the same reasons. There was as in the case of her father no evidence before the Court after the statements had been ruled inadmissible that justified holding her longer, and in my view, it would have been similarly unfair to her to have done so.

“I was informed that there were two other family witnesses who had also not answered subpoenas, for whom the prosecution also sought warrants, but this only compounded uncertainty in the resolution of the case.

For the same reasons, I declined warrants for them to be compelled to attend.”

Tongan army officers get construction training from NZDF

By
Kaniva Staff
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Twelve Tongan soldiers have participated in a recent two-week training programme conducted by engineers from the New Zealand Defence Force.

The construction planning and project management training was part of a mutual assistance programme between the two militaries.

The training was conducted at His Majesty’s Armed Forces (HMAF) Naval Base at Nuku’alofa.

It came on the heels of a month-long multilateral humanitarian assistance and disaster relief capacity-building exercise in Vanuatu, called Exercise Tropic Twilight, which involved NZDF engineers working alongside personnel from the Vanuatu Mobile Force and the Chinese People’s Liberation Army.

Lieutenant Cam Gurney, from the New Zealand Army’s 2nd Engineer Regiment (2ER), who led the five-member NZDF contingent, said the training aimed to enhance the skills of HMAF (Tonga) construction personnel.

“These skills will help their junior leaders in planning, running and managing a range of construction projects, including buildings and roads,” Lieutenant Gurney said.

“We are pleased to have the opportunity to work closely with Tongan soldiers and deepen the defence cooperation between our two militaries.”

Lieutenant Colonel Terry McDonald, the Commanding Officer of 2ER, said NZDF engineers were trusted by partner militaries for their skills and professionalism, and were deployed regularly to lead construction projects in Antarctica, the Middle East and the South West Pacific.

“Every sapper is a professional in their trade. Activities like the training we’ve recently delivered in Tonga and the capacity-building exercise in Vanuatu demonstrate this,” Lieutenant Colonel McDonald said.

During Exercise Tropic Twilight, which ended in late May, a joint team of engineers from New Zealand, Vanuatu and China helped build two medical staff houses and an aid post. The activity was funded in part by New Zealand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

Mt Eden crash will affect Auckland’s western train timetable

By
Kaniva Staff
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Train services on the Western line have been stopped after a truck crashed into powerlines in the Auckland suburb of Mt Eden.

Police are currently at the scene at the intersection of Boston Road and Normanby Road.

This is going to affect train services and these have been stopped until further notice.

There will be disruption to traffic in the area as we have closed the road while contractors clean up the powerlines.

There are no reported injuries.

NZ Immigration draws Tongan applicants’ Pacific ballots

By
Kaniva Staff
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The New Zealand Pacific Access Category quotas will be drawn by ballot today.

A total of 650 places are available under the Pacific Access Category for nationals from Tonga (250), Fiji (250), Tuvalu (75) and Kiribati (75).

Immigration New Zealand (INZ) Assistant General Manager Jeannie Melville said around 11,000 registrations were received this year under the Pacific Access Category quotas.

The PAC quota ballot results will be announced on 15 June 2018.

Those who are successful in being drawn from the ballot will be contacted directly by INZ about how and by when they are required to complete and lodge their formal residence visa applications.

There are another 1,100 places available under the Samoan Quota for Samoan nationals. This year the Samoan Quota ballot will be drawn on 29 June and results will be announced on 6 July.

For further media information contact +64 (0) 274 422 141 or email media@mbie.govt.nz

Growing tree branches near runway cancel ‘Eua flight service, says CEO

By
Kalino Latu
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Tree branches growing near the runway at ‘Eua’s Kaufana domestic airport have caused Real Tonga to cancel flights.

The airline’s CEO, Tēvita Palu, said there had been no flights to ‘Eua for  five weeks.

Palu said he made the decision to cancel the services because he feared the trees could cause an accident to aircraft when they landed.

He said he had met with the Minister of Civil Aviation, Hon Sēmisi Sika, and was told the Ministry would cut down the branches, but nothing had been done yet.

Hon Sika has been contacted for comment.

‘Eua is not the only airport where Real Tonga faces problems.

At Ha’apai airport, rolling stones on the runway have caused a lot of damage to the airlines’ aircraft over the past six years.

Palu said he had repeatedly met with the airport’s authorities and had been told they would work on it, but until now nothing had been done.

Palu said replacement parts for aircraft were extremely expensive and when they were damaged it cost his company great losses.

He said he feared that when the Free Wesleyan Church upcoming conference began in Ha’apai his aircraft would not be able to service the islands.

Palu said the issue with the ‘Eua airport was easy to resolve and he did not know why the authorities did not do it.

He said the problem not only caused the service to be cancelled, but also cost his pilots and staff because they had no income for that period.

Another problem was that the company had already purchased their fuel from an overseas company.

The fuel for the aircraft had an expiry date, which meant when the ‘Eua services will return the fuel was expired and they have to buy another fuel.

Real Tonga operates five aircraft on its domestic services.

It will begin its first regional services between Apia, Samoa and Tongatapu through Vava’u International Airport on June 29.

Murder charge after Tongan death in Hawai‘i

By
Kaniva Staff
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A man is facing second-degree murder charge in relation to the death of a Tongan man in Hawai’i.

46-year-old Sione Telua Koloi died in Lanai Community Hospital on May 11 as a result of his injuries. His body was laid to rest on June 2.

Travis Morita, 35, was charged with murder following an autopsy of Koloi. Morita was being held at the Wailuku Police Station.

Police recently increased Morita’s charge from manslaughter to second-degree murder after evidences suggested he repeatedly punched Koloi in the face before he died of his injuries, Assistant Chief John Jakubczak was quoted by The Maui News as saying.

The incident occurred at 10:37 p.m. Friday when police responded to a report of a man injured during a fight at the intersection of Fraser Avenue and Kaumalapau Highway in Lanai City, Jakubczak said.

Police found Koloi lying on the ground on his right side with injuries to his head and face, with his girlfriend Kendra-Leah Sabin by his side.

Sabin remembered Koloi as a loving father, coach and friend. She said he worked as a journeyman finish carpenter for the past eight years on Lanai and in Lahaina.

The couple were in the process of breaking down their old home and planning to rebuild, Sabin said. They also were planning to look after their daughter’s child to help her finish college in two more years.

“We had so much plans,” she said.

Born and raised in American Samoa, Koloi moved to Maui in 1990. Four years later, he moved to Lanai and eventually met Sabin in 1996.

“He was very involved with the community,” Sabin said. “A lot of people loved him here and in Lahaina.”

Sabin said Koloi helped coach Pop Warner football and Menehune basketball teams in both Lanai and Lahaina. She said he was part of the crew working on renovations of the Lodge at Koele resort and helped build Lanai’s movie theater.

“All his bosses and co-workers had nothing but good things to say about him,”Sabin said. “Every day he comes to work smiling and happy. Even the cooks said when he comes by to pick up lunch, he’s always offering to help.”

Tongan relatives paid tributes to Koloi on social media.

Gov’t hands out thousands of chicks four month after devastating TC Gita

By
Kaniva Staff
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The government is delivering thousands of free chicks to communities across Tonga to help provide them with enough meat.

This was part of a food assistance project initiated to help locals while the nation is still recovering after Cyclone Gita hit it in February.

MAFF’s  Livestock Division handed out 1,890 baby chicks last week with those who joined the programme receiving 10 chicks each.

The receivers were trained to make sure they knew how to raise the chicken before they could be turned into meat products.

The Ministry intended to give out 40,000 baby chicks by the end of this year.

As Kaniva news reported, the Cabinet had allocated TP$21.4 for the Cyclone sub-committee to help the recovery process, and part of that money would be spent on food.

Last year the government handed out thousands of baby ducks and chickens to villagers to encourage them to cut down on fatty imported meat.

In 2016 the government imposed new import tax on fatty meat as part of its health campaign to encourage people to eat local food and meat products.

Tonga currently spends around $40 million pa’anga a year on imported meats which it wanted to see reduced.

A third of the Tongan population now has type 2 diabetes and the country’s life expectancy for both men and women has fallen in recent years.

This trick ensures your luggage will come off the plane first

By
Kaniva Staff
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If you hate waiting for your luggage at the luggage carousel while all the other passengers grab their bags and head out into the sun this is what you can do.

The key is to make sure your luggage was one of the last to load on.

This means it will probably be first off and one of the first on the carousel when you arrive.

Clearly, this trick only works when you have a direct flight. If you have a connection, then your gate-checked bag is going to end up right back in the mix on your next flight just as if you had checked it when you arrived at the airport.

The second suggestion is a little more interesting and involves checking your bag like normal, but asking for it to be labelled as fragile. Fragile bags are loaded onto the plane last, which means your bags should come off first.

But if you’re going to tag your luggage, make sure to leave one thing off – your address, according to New York Post.

Opportunistic thieves will know that you are not at home and could try to burgle the property as a result.

Thomas Lo Sciuto, a ramp worker and gate agent at a regional airport in the US, according to the Post said on Quora: “Bags will always be loaded front to back on the bag carts, so if you check in last, your bags will be in the last bag cart.

If you’re concerned about leaving it late to check in at the airport, there’s now an app that lets you plan the amount of time needed to get through to the boarding gate comfortably.

TripIt lets people check the size of the queues at security before they’ve even got to the airport, reports Travel and Leisure.

The new addition to the travel app monitors airport security queues in real time by using sensors to track travelers’ movements in the lines.

It will let you know how long it’ll take you to get to your gate, down to the minute, and even which queues are the fastest when you get to security.

At present, the app can only tell you about waits at a handful of airports such as Orlando International and Denver International.

But there are plans to roll it out across more locations in the future.

USP appoints new president and vice-chancellor

By
Kaniva Staff
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The University of the South Pacific has appointed Pal Ahluwalia as its new vice-chancellor and president.

The professor will take up the new role in November 2018. This will allow for a smooth transition and handover process from USP’s current Vice-Chancellor and President Professor Rajesh Chandra, whose term comes to an end in December 2018.

Professor Chandra served as USP’s Vice-Chancellor and President for a maximum term of ten years.

Professor Ahluwalia is currently the Pro Vice-Chancellor at the University of Portsmouth in the United Kingdom.

The appointment came after a decision made during the 86th Council meeting of the University in Nauru.

Professor Ahluwalia was selected for this position after a rigorous and thorough selection process by the University’s Joint Committee of Council and Senate.

He has a PhD in Politics from Flinders University and a Master and Bachelor of Arts from the University of Saskatchewan in Canada.

According to USP Pro-Chancellor and Chair of Council, Mr Winston Thompson, the new Vice-Chancellor brings to USP credentials and experience, which would make him a strong applicant for a Vice-Chancellor’s position anywhere in the world.

“Professor Ahluwalia shows a great understanding of USP and articulated a compelling vision for its future; he emphasised the importance of advancing the interests of member nations,” Mr Thompson said.

Mr Thompson added that Professor Ahluwalia has extensive experience in providing strategic leadership and management through undertaking the roles of Deputy Vice-Chancellor (DVC): Academic, PVC: Research and Innovation and PVC: Global Engagement. These have required the development and realisation of a strategic vision, implementing key policies and effective decision making that depend on forging successful relationships with many stakeholders and especially building and strengthening effective teams.

In his current position, Professor Ahluwalia is responsible for promoting a strong research and innovation culture across the University of Portsmouth with continuous improvement in the volume, quality and impact of the University’s research and enterprise outputs and partnerships.

Professor Ahluwalia is a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia. He is also the recipient of many grants throughout his career and has supervised a great deal of PhD students to completion at the University of Adelaide, University of California, San Diego, Goldsmiths University of London and the University of South Australia.

His main research interests lie in the areas of African studies, social and cultural theory, in particular, post-colonial theory and the processes of diaspora, exile, migration, and the complexities of identity formation. He is the sole author of five books, co-author or editor of a further nine, editor of three journals, and author or co-author of countless book chapters, journal articles, and conference papers, many as an invited keynote speaker.

In 2008, Professor Ahluwalia was appointed a UNESCO Chair in Transnational Diasporas and Reconciliation Studies. In 2015, he was awarded the status of an Eminent Scholar by the International Studies Association.

In accepting his role as USP’s new Vice-Chancellor and President, Professor Ahluwalia said “the opportunity to undertake the role of Vice-Chancellor and President at USP is enormously exciting as it is a position that would be a privilege and an honour to hold. I am passionate about education in the broadest sense of the word and the potential that the role offers is one that I will relish.”

Professor Ahluwalia said that the fundamentals at USP as the premier regional university serving the Pacific Islands are in place with a sound financial foundation.

“USP in the next phase of its development will need to continue to build on its reputation as a significant research University that has the potential to change the lives of the inhabitants of the region. The groundwork has been laid through its Strategic Plan underpinned by the goal of moving from “good to excellent,” he highlighted.

Professor Ahluwalia believes that USP has a real opportunity to become a truly world-class institution by building upon the promise of its mission and values. Its excellence must be celebrated and widely publicised so that it becomes the University of choice in the region.

Professor Rajesh Chandra welcomed the appointment of his successor, adding that Professor Ahluwalia’s extensive international career of achievement in higher education with pervasive experience as an academic makes him an outstanding candidate to lead USP especially as the University looks forward to greater achievements in higher education in the Pacific region.

“I am sure that the University community will provide Professor Ahluwalia with their utmost support and partnership to enable the University to successfully deliver it new Strategic Plan 2019-2024,” Professor Chandra said.

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