A woman has died following a serious crash on the North Shore earlier this evening.
Police said the crash happened on Forrest Hill Road around 5.51pm when a single vehicle collided with a pedestrian.
The woman was taken by ambulance to hospital, but she died a short time later.
The Serious Crash Unit are conducting an inquiry into the cause.
Our thoughts go out to the family of the victim.
Dr Sione Tapa dies Wednesday 9 at the age of 94.
The former Minister of Health was appointed to the ministerial posit in 1970 and he held it until he retired in 1996.
Dr Tapa established Tonga Health Dr Tapa Scholarship for students of health promotion and education.
In 2012 he was recognised by the Pacific region’s health community for his contribution to health. WHO Regional Director for the Western Pacific awarded Dr Tapa with plaques of appreciation.
It said the plaques honoured him as a dedicated public health servant, colleague and true friend of WHO.
“For 26 years, Dr Tapa provided strong leadership as Tonga’s delegate to the Regional Committee for the Western Pacific. Although currently retired and living in Tonga, he has been the longest-serving delegate to the Regional Committee.”
Dr Tapa is survived by his wife Sala Puloka Tapa.
Mako Vunipola has been honoured with a national sport award in England.
The accolade, in association with All Sport Insurance, is presented to the outstanding England player from the 2017/18 season as voted by the elite playing squad.
Vunipola played 462 minutes for Eddie Jones’ side and impressed with his ball carrying and tackling statistics.
“I’m so proud to be recognised with this award and thankful for the support shown by my team-mates,” he said.
“I cherish every moment I get to represent my country and for me there is no prouder moment than taking the pitch in an England shirt with my mates.”
In April Vunipola was named by Saracens in their team to face Bath despite being obliged to rest him according to an agreement between the Rugby Football Union and the Premiership.
“In a move that raises serious concerns over player welfare, Vunipola has been picked for the fourth week in a row following the Six Nations, even though the terms of the Professional Game Agreement (PGA), signed in 2016 between the RFU and the Premiership, suggest he must be given a break.”
The 27-year-old’s parents are Tongans and he was born in Wellington, New Zealand.
(ISLANDS BUSINESS) Moves are afoot in Tonga to set up a commercial television company.
Papua New Guinea’s Click TV has started negotiations to purchase a licence to operate in the kingdom.
Click TV’s Richard Broadbridge is expected in Tonga today to hold talks with potential partners. The move was welcomed independent radio broadcaster, Maka Tohi.
“A second TV station will allow for more local content and non-government broadcast material”, Tohi said.
“It’s a huge challenge for non-state entities to find space on the government station.
“Hopefully an independent commercial station will give us space to produce and broadcast local material.”
Tohi – former chief engineer of the state-owned Tonga Broadcasting Corporation- has close links to Broadbridge. The two worked closely during the establishment of Sky Pacific in Tonga when Broadbridge worked for Fiji TV.
Broadbridge later moved to PNG and set up the digitally based Click TV.
The company recently applied to operate a digital TV station in Kiribati. Click provides services to 1000 homes in Kiribati and is expected to set up a similar service in Tonga.
Broadbridge has remained tightlipped about his foray into the kingdom. But he is expected to meet a number of influential Tongans over the weekend. The entry of a new TV company will come at a time when media freedom is under threat in the country.
But Prime Minister ‘Akilisi Pohiva has defended his hardline stand against media companies. Pohiva said the recent dismissal of two Tonga Broadcasting Corporation officials was part of a long term vision for the kingdom’s development
-PACNEWS
The Ports Authority Tonga have paid an emotional tribute to the man who died after he was killed this morning Wednesday 9.
An Emergency service spokesperson said the victim became trapped inside a shipping container.
However, a reliable source told Kaniva News the man was crushed between two containers.
The 46-year-old man from Ma’ufanga was found dead by co-workers.
The spokesperson said Police and Emergency Services attended the incident at 9.11am.
The man’s name has yet to be officially released.
A well-known Tongan pop musician, Sālesi Kaufusi, said he and the victim were founding members of the Polynesian Sunset Band in early 1990s.
Kaufusi said the deceased, who was the keyboardist, was known to him and their band members as Manu Pupui’one Fatafehi Sasakawa Vuna or None Koko.
He said they won many singing competitions in Tonga and toured the Pacific and the United Sates to raise funds for the Tonga National Music Committee.
They finally went to Australia and some of the band members, including Kaufusi, found work there.
Kaufusi said Vuna returned to Tonga because his mother was ageing.
He was a talented keyboardist, Kaufusi said.
A statement from the Ports Authority Tonga said it could confirm the deceased was an employee of Dateline Transam Shipping Ltd.
“Ports Authority Tonga would like to offer its heartfelt condolences to the family of the deceased and we pray that the love of our God enfolds the bereaved family during this very difficult time,” a spokesman said.
Tonga Police seized about $2m of methamphetamine at Fua’amotu Airport yesterday Tuesday 8.
A 59-year-old man was arrested after the seizure of 1,9kg of meth which has a street value of about $2 million pa’anga.
Cash of about TP$10,000 in different currencies was also found in the man’s possession.
Police believed the man attempted to smuggle the drugs to New Zealand.
He was arrested inside the airport’s departure lounge.
Acting Chief Superintendent Tevita Vailea said: “This seizure sends a clear message that Police, along with partner agencies will continue to work together to disrupt the supply of illicit drugs.
We can never emphasize enough that meth like any other illicit drugs is causing significant harm in our communities and we continue to encourage anyone who has information that will assist us in catching those responsible to contact us.”
The seizure comes after Police arrested a 35-year-old man with one pack of methamphetamine and 14 packs of cannabis ready to be distributed in Nuku’alofa on Monday 7, May.
Police executed a search warrant at his residence in Malapo and seized 85 packs of cannabis, 4 packs of cannabis seeds, 1 bowl with cannabis leaves and 2 cannabis pot plants.
The Drug Taskforce earlier on Monday arrested a 27-year-old man from the CBD area with 1 pack of cannabis.
“Those with any information on drug-related offending or suspicious activities are encouraged to speak in confidence to an officer at their local Police station, or contact 23417 or 25147,” Police said.
Police investigation continues.
A man has died after becoming trapped in a shipping container at Kuini Sālote wharf this morning.
Fire and Emergency services as well as Police were called to the scene at 9.11am, a spokesperson told Kaniva News.
He said Vaiola hospital alerted Fire and Emergency Services to the scene.
The hospital told the Services a body had been found trapped inside a shipping container, the spokesperson said.
However, a reliable source told Kaniva News the man was allegedly crushed between two containers.
“Yes we confirmed there was 1 dead victim (m) this morning at Queen Salote Wharf,” the Emergency service spokesperson said.
“The fire crew responded immediately to the scene of incident,” he said.
Police investigation is underway.
Tongan nightingale Tu’imala Kaho has revealed that all the many songs she composed, her favourite is Losehina ‘O Kahala or the White Rose of Kahala.
The song, which was first titled Heimataura, was composed after her daughter Heimataura Anderson married the late Prince ‘Alaivahamama’o Tuku’aho who was later appointed to the Ma’atu title before his death in 2004. He was an older brother of King Tupou VI.
The wedding in 1980 cost the Prince his title because he disobeyed the kingdom’s constitution and the king’s prerogative after marrying a commoner. Five years later Heimataura died of cancer and the ex-prince returned to Tonga from Hawai’i.
Kaho, a well known Tongan poetess, singer and choreographer, told Kaniva News in Auckland this morning that she composed the song to depict how deeply she loved her daughter and how her decision to marry the prince has caused some of the public to criticise them.
Kaho, who turned 79 last month, said Losehina, or white rose, was a symbol of the king as the rose was the king of all western flowers. Kahala was where his daughter and the prince stayed in Hawai’i.
In the song, she wrote about her daughter and said – He ‘ofa na kuo hoko ko e mala or the love you have chosen has put a curse on us, referring to how she as a mother felt embarrassed after her daughter has caused trouble to the royal family.
The song was not allowed on air briefly after it failed the national broadcaster’s scrutiny process.
Scrutiny
Kaho said when she started composing and singing at the age of 18 the only radio station was the government service ZCO, later known as A3Z.
She said all compositions were scrutinised by the station’s Broadcasting Commission’s committee and lyrics were strongly assessed to make sure cultural standards were not breached. This meant many songs were rejected by the committee, she said.
Kaho said this also meant only the best were aired at the time and this had made the radio station famous because the music composition and performance were of high quality.
Today’s technologies made it easier for people to record and broadcast their own composition without going through any scrutiny process.
“In my own opinion Tongan music should revert to the scrutiny process,” Kaho said.
“We are still Tongan because we have our own cultural values. Our feveitokai’aki, faka’apa’apa, respect the nobles and commoners, family respects we have to our mehikitanga and tuofafine.”
Losehina ‘O Kahala
Kaho said her song Losehina ‘o Kahala failed the scrutiny process after she recorded it in Hawai’i and sent it to Tonga to be broadcast.
The chair of the committee at the time was the late Lord Ve’ehala who contacted Kaho and asked her to change the name of the song from Heimataura.
The noble insisted that using the name Heimataura for the song was like telling the royal family that this had served them right.
One line in the song Kaho said she argued Lord Ve’ehala about was written as – “ Afioga kovi ‘eku loi”.
She said she thought Ve’ehala misheard the line from the cassette with the Tongan word ‘afio’ na which means – Your Majesty. She said she corrected the noble and told him the word was afioga, a Samoan word for residence. There was an afioga in Kahala in Hawai’i where her daughter and the prince lived and she was referring to that.
She said after refusing to cooperate with Lord Ve’ehala the song was banned in Tonga.
She said Prince ‘Aho’eiteu, who is now King Tupou VI asked her to change the name so he could be able to get a copy from the radio.
Kaho said she then changed the name of the song from Heimataura to Losehina O Kahala and the song was allowed to be broadcast.
Tongan composition
Kaho said Tongan music today was slack and out of its cultural context.
She said Tongan songs and music should be examined before they were broadcast to the public.
Kaho said she was disappointed that composition of Tongan love songs or hiva kakala today was slipshod.
She said lyrics of some songs were even disrespectful.
She said these days the young poets’ compositions were mostly hualela (humorous in an offensive or vulgar manner) and they copied others’ songs.
Kaho composed her own music and lyrics and sang them. If her composition was meant to be danced, she can train the dancers on how to do the hakas (movement of the body according to the music).
This means Kaho is one of the rare musician in today’s Tongan music community because she can compose, sing and choreograph the sequence of steps and body movements for a performance of dance. This identifies her as a real punake (poetess.)
Cultural standard
Kaho said she kept her composition to the cultural standard, making sure the social order in which the king, nobles and commoners had their respective duties, was respected.
“That is how Tongan composition should be,” she said.
She said there were kakala ‘eiki (fragrant flowers) that could only be used in music composition to refer to the king and the nobles. Those flowers could not be used if the songs were composed to a common lover.
These flowers included heilala, tuitui, maile, langakali, nukonuka, and pipi.
Non-fragrant flowers were regarded as kakala vale and they were used in songs if they were composed about commoners.
Kaho will perform to the public at the Lesieli Tonga auditorium in Mangere, South Auckland this Friday.
The main points
The Supreme Court has ordered that a dispute over a NZ$2 million loan must be settled in a New Zealand court.
Princess Pilolevu Tuita and Lucy Anna Tupou aka Lucy Anna ‘Ilaiu sought a judgement in the Tongan Supreme Court staying an earlier judgement in favour of New Zealanders Graeme McLean Wallace and Valerie Isobel Wallace who claim they are owed NZ$2,104,822.
Princess Pilolevu is being sued as a guarantor of the loan.
The Wallaces made a series of loans to Ms ‘Ilaiu in New Zealand beginning in 2016. In his report on the case, Lord Chief Justice Paulsen said the Wallaces charged loan fees that were equal to 84 percent of the amount lent. Fees of $1,062,180 were made on advances of $1,258,125.
Lord Chief Justice Paulsen said that when the Wallaces applied for judgment by default against Ms. ‘Ilaiu there was nothing before the court identifying the loan fees.
“Had I been aware of the loan fees I would have refused to enter judgment without first conducting a hearing,” he said.
The loans were not paid back. When the first loan was made a mortgage was taken over Ms. ‘Ilaiu’s property at 69C Finch Street, Auckland.
When the second loan was made, the Wallaces took additional security of an unregistered mortgage over Princess Pilolevu’s property at 95 Bell Road, Remuera in Auckland, personal guarantees and also from Ms. ‘Ilaiu and the Princess as trustees of the HRH SMPT Family Trust.
In a letter of 24 March 2017 the Wallaces’ lawyers made demand upon Ms. ‘Ilaiu for payment of the balance owing under the third term loan agreement which was said to be $2,011,444.
On March 27, 2017, a notice was issued by the Wallaces to Ms. ‘llaiu of their intention to sell the Finch Street property.
A notice was issued to Princess Pilolevu giving her notice of the Wallaces’ intention to recover any deficiency upon the sale of Finch Street from her as guarantor.
The properties at 69A and 69B Finch Street were sold by another mortgagee and 69C Finch Street was sold by the Wallaces. The Wallaces received $987,071.05 from the proceeds. 95 Bell Road was also sold by another mortgagee, but the Wallaces received nothing.
On December 7, 2017, the Wallaces filed an action against the defendants. Judgment by default was entered on February 27, 2018. On March 1, 2018 the Wallaces applied for charging orders against registered leases of land at Neiafu and Kolomotu’a.
Ms. ‘Ilaiu sought to have the judgement against her set aside on the grounds that:
That the Wallaces failed to make disclosure as required by the New Zealand Credit Contracts and Consumer Finance Act, with the result that the third term loan agreement is unenforceable;
That the loan fees were oppressive in terms of the CCCF and were irrecoverable along with the interest charged upon them with the result that there is nothing owed to the Wallaces;
And that
The Wallaces were not registered as financial service providers, making the third term loan agreement illegal and unenforceable.
Lord Chief Justice Paulsen said that in his view the third loan agreement was oppressive.
“The loan fees were very large; bewilderingly so. I have never come across a case where such fees have been charged let alone on a repeated basis over a period of years,” he said.
In considering the nature of the loans, the evidence presented by Ilaiu and the Wallaces, the judge ordered the default judgment entered against Ms. Ilaiu set aside.
The judge said Ilaiu and Princess Pilolevu had applied for a stay on the ground that New Zealand was the appropriate legal forum to resolve the dispute.
“I am firmly of the view that New Zealand is the proper and most convenient forum for resolving this dispute,” he said.
“The High Court of New Zealand has strict case management procedures and sophisticated discovery rules which in my view puts it in a better position to deal with a case such as this. I note also that a commercial Judge sitting in New Zealand will have a better feel than a Judge in Tonga for the reasonable standards of commercial practice.”
Lord Chief Justice Paulsen said the case would be stayed on the condition that Ilaiu and Princess Pilolevu sign statements agreeing to submit to the jurisdiction of the New Zealand courts.
Tonga went down 54-0 to Fiji on Saturday in the Rugby U20 match on the Gold Coast.
The Tongans had been affected by injury before the game.
Tongan centre Sefa Finau was absent after he was suspended for two weeks for a high tackle.
The two teams met in December and played out two draws. with Fiji securing the region’s place at the World Rugby U20 Trophy 2018 by virtue of a try bonus point.
Tonga had already been defeated 97-0 by France on April 18.
Fiji’s win garnered them a third place in the Oceania round of the global U20 competition.
Fijian Captain Raikabula Momoedonu said before Saturday’s game they were looking forward to a victory over Tonga.
Fiji had suffered heavy defeats by Australia and New Zealand in this year’s Oceania competition.
In the 2017 U20 round, Fiji not did not win any games.
New Zealand will head to the World Rugby U20 Championship as Oceania champions after beating Australia 43-28 in Saturday’s title match.
The main points
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