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Confusion before passengers boarding Air NZ flight sparks brief chaos at Fua‘amotu airport

By
Kalino Latu
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Confusion before passengers boarded Air New Zealand flight NZ 273 on Wednesday afternoon from Tonga to Auckland caused a brief disturbance and drew complaints from some passengers.

About 170 passengers, who had been walking about 100 metres from the airport terminal to the aircraft were unhappy about having to wait in the sun.

The passengers apparently had no idea why they were being put on hold.

Some passengers gave up and breached an order to wait at the foot of the stairway and walked up to the aircraft door.

They were spotted talking to the General Manager of the Airport Terminal Service (ATS), Mr
Paul Karalus.

Some passengers were overheard complaining that the staff at the terminal should have made sure there was no issue before releasing them to walk to the aircraft.

Sick passenger

However, Karalus said they realised they had an issue only after seating the first passengers who arrived at the aircraft.

“It was during the movement of guests in the general boarding by both the forward and rear stairways that we struck the problem of one invalid who could not walk.

“We use the aisle chair we use for such cases but she could not physically fit down the aisle,” Karalus told Kaniva News.

“We had to quickly reassign her seat to be in the front of the economy section and advise the gate to reassign both her seat and that of the guest originally given the seat while slowly easing her into the seat,” Karalus said.

Schedule

Karalus, a former government Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation said the incoming flight NZ270 on Wednesday from Auckland to Tonga arrived late.

“In such cases, we at ATS must endeavour to return the flight for an on-time arrival in Auckland and to the convenience of the passengers.

He said there were 263 passengers on the flight from Auckland and 172 on the return leg.
An unusually high number of passengers needed to use the ambulift to board, so two were
used.

Once the first ambulift was empty and the passengers were seated, a general boarding call was made.

Passengers put on hold

Karalus said it was during this manoeuvre that he asked passengers at the foot of the forward stairs to wait until they cleared the way by seating the invalid before the front stairs could be used.

Passengers were still able to use the rear stairs.

He said passengers were kept waiting for no more than three minutes.

The comfort of the elderly invalid outweighed the small inconvenience of the few guests who had had to wait for a little time before boarding, he said.

Teen who blinded a man with a brick he hurled during a drunken attack gets jail terms

By
Kalino Latu
-

The 18-year-old male teenager who hurled a brick in which struck a man in his right eye in Longoteme leaving him blind  has been sentenced to three and a half years imprisonment.

Mumuhu Pou’uhila was sentenced on December 14 after it was confirmed he did willfully and without legal justification cause grievous bodily harm to Nelesoni Tu’itavake when he threw a brick that hit his face causing the destruction of his eyeball.

He was convicted of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.

Court documents showed Tu’itavake was drinking with friends when it was noticed that his brother had disappeared.

He and friends located him with a number of young men and he appeared to skirmish with one of them.

Tu’itavake held back his brother and they left.

At one stage they heard a number of young men challenging them to a fight.  They were told no one is to back down.

Tu’itavake went to see what the commotion was about with his friends, and saw a number of young men running towards him.

The prisoner threw a brick at Tu’itavake’s face causing him to fall to the ground and black out momentarily.

The victim was further assaulted by others of the group. The accused played no further part in the fight other than throwing the brick.

Tu’itavake was taken to hospital. A preliminary medical report of the 19 April 2017 noted that he had multiple broken facial bones around the right orbit of his face.

On that basis, Judge Charles Cato imposed a starting point of five years’ imprisonment for Pou’uhila’s charge, but this was reduced to three and six months after Mr. Cato allowed a one year mitigation entitlement for his early guilty plea.

Mr. Cato also further mitigated  the starting point by an additional six months to reflect Pou’uhila’s age, and the fact he has no previous convictions. He has offered an apology and was remorseful.

Mr. Cato suspended the final 18 months of his sentence on the following conditions:

  • He is not to commit any offences punishable by imprisonment for the period of his suspension;
  • He is placed on probation for the term of his suspension to live where directed by his probation officer;
  • He is not to consume alcohol during the period of his suspension;
  • He is to attend a course on life skills and violence under the direction of his probation

“The sentence  I impose on him for grievous bodily harm is three and half years imprisonment backdated to the time he was remanded in custody for this offending,” Mr. Cato said.

Cabinet line-up to be announced after King appoints Prime Minister, says PM Pohiva

By
Kalino Latu
-

Prime Minister ‘Akilisi Pohiva will announce his cabinet line-up after His Majesty King Tupou VI appoints him early next month.

As Kaniva News reported earlier, the line-up was expected to be announced before Christmas, but after Hon. Pohiva was informed the king would probably appoint him for longer than expected, he cancelled the planned announcement.

He said the Palace office would probably process the appointment ceremony on January 2.

He said it was normal procedure that the announcement of the new cabinet could be made public after the Prime Minister was appointed by the king.

“It is better to leave it until His Majesty would formally appoint me,” he said.

He said he came to this conclusion after a discussion in cabinet to announce the line-up last week.

He said he knew the people were waiting for the line-up and some were expecting it before Christmas.

Nobility

Hon. Pohiva said there was advice from outside for him and his cabinet to work together with the nobility after the snap election.

He said that had proven very difficult in the past.

He said the German philosopher Karl Marx has referred to this situation as “class struggle.”

This meant the nobility would always fight to make sure they survived and got what they wanted for their own benefit. For them to survive they had to support only the laws and policies that would protect their interest and advantages, Hon. Pohiva said.

“I tell you it would be very difficult to work together with them because of that,” Hon. Pohiva said.

He said there were laws which gave nobility power over their own lands. People could live there and grow crops, but the owners were the nobles.

“If we changed those laws to allow the people to own those lands I can tell you the nobles would not like it,” Hon. Pohiva said.

For more information

‘Akilisi Pōhiva is Prime Minister of Tonga until 2021

Great grandchildren of 15 siblings meet to revive Tu’ivailala blood relationship

By
Kalino Latu
-

The grandchildren of the late Sione Lātū Tu’ivailala of Matamaka, Vava’u met in a joyous celebration in Houma, Tongatapu today to revive their blood relationship for the first time.

Most of them found this an opportunity to meet each other. After their parents married they moved to different places and the grandchildren were far away from each other.

One family member who worked as Senior Revenue Officer in the Tongan Custom Department sat in the kava circle this morning during the gathering and was surprised to meet some of his friends who worked in a broker’s service who they regularly met to process brokerage papers.

“I was surprised to become aware for the first time we are family,” Paulo Lātū said of these friends whose mother, Fane Tu’ivailala was a first cousin of his mother, late ‘Elisiva Tu’ivailala Lātū.

‘Elisiva’s father was the late Falekasa Tu’ivailala and Fane’s father was the late Kite Tu’ivailala. Kite and Falekasa were two of Sione’s 15 children.

Sione married the late Silipa Tu’ivailala.

All the siblings were survived by Kelepi Falekihefohe Tu’ivailala.

Kelepi, 87, who is also known as Visa, was honoured by the family today as chairman of the reunion.

Today’s family function, which was held at the Mailo Kava Club from 9am until about 4pm, was full of memory and jubilation.

Migration

Sione grew up in the island of Matamaka in Vava’u, but most of his children moved to mainland Tongatapu and settled in Houma, Malapo and Haveluloto.

It appeared his siblings kept in touch after they arrived in Tongatapu, but when they died there was lack of communication between his grandchildren and great grand children.

Most of the speakers today were thankful that the reunion had been initiated to bring together their children so they knew each other.

The family reunion’s president, Halatoa Tāufa, who is also a Police Inspector in Tonga described the history of the island of Matamaka.

“Anyone who grew up in Matamaka, some of the things they did was watching the rock,” he said.

(Mata is Tongan for watching and maka is Tongan for rocks)

Other Tu’ivailala reunions

Tu’ivailala clans in New Zealand have been holding family reunions since 2012. They began with a Facebook page entitled Makapuna ‘o Siosafate mo Sesilia Tu’ivailala ‘o Matamaka.

It was followed  by reunions for the Tu’ivailala families in Australia and the United States.

The New Zealand reunion passed a resolution during its 2017 Reunion in November for all members to travel to Matamaka in 2019.

Some family members have not been to the island since they were born.

Sione’s children

1 – ‘Akesa Vaipulu Tu’ivailala Liukeina

2 – Siaosi Fifita Tu’ivailala

3 – Halalele Tu’ivailala

4 – Kitekeiaho Tu’ivailala

5 – Lupe Heamapa Tu’ivailala

6 – Sione Havea Toa Tu’ivailala a.k.a Falekasa

7 – Seini Piula Tu’ivailala

8 – Paula Langi Tu’ivailala

9 – ‘Ana Lolohea Tu’ivailala Tupou

10 – Kelela Tu’ivailala

11 – Mele Mata Tu’ivailala Tupou

12 – Kelepi Fale-Ki he-Fohe  Tu’ivailala a.k.a Visa

13 – Letio-i-vaikeli Tu’ivailala Taufa

14 – Fokikovi-Ki-Fakanoaloto Tu’ivailala

15 – Taniela Kanakana-e-Langi Tu’ivailala a.k.a Kuma

Holonga family lose everything in fire days before Christmas

By
Kalino Latu
-

A fire gutted a Tongatapu home just four days before Christmas, destroying everything a young family owned.

Pitikeni and Tupou Fungavaka and their two young sons aged three and one lost all their belongings.

Pitikeni told Kaniva News he was thankful no one was killed in the fire.

The blaze erupted and destroyed the house on Wednesday at around 3.30pm, he said.

Fire fighters were at the scene.

Pitikeni said he was at work when he received  a text message saying his house was on fire.

He posted a message on Facebook with a screenshot of the text message.

“This is the message I will never ever forget,” he wrote in Tongan.

His community is working together to make sure the Fungavakas have a happy holiday. They dropped off blankets, food, cutlery, clothing and a tent to the family’s home to help make sure they were taken care of for Christmas.

Pitikeni said his parents and Red Cross were first to arrive in their property in Holonga with assistance.

The cause of the fire was under investigation.

Land Court president calls for review of leasing arrangements

By
Philip Cass
-

The President of the Land Court has called on the Minster for Lands to review the way it registers leasing arrangements.

His comments come after a hearing into claims arising over the right to a block of land that had passed into the hands of four brothers and been the subject of dispute by some of their descendants.

Owen Paulsen, presiding, said it help prevent disputes in the future if leases were to state at least that co-lessees hold the lease as joint tenants or as tenants in common and in what shares.

He said the case also highlighted the need for the Ministry to take care when drafting leases and dealing with them upon the death of co-lessees.

Four brothers, William Wight (William), Charley Wight  (Charley), Fred Wight (Fred) and Harry Wight (Harry) were the holders of a registered lease of land, known as Ha’amea, at Liahona. The lease was then transferred to Charley, Fred and Harry. Charley and Fred died before Harry. On their deaths no one applied for Letters of Administration or claimed their interests in the lease.   On Harry’s  death  one of his sons, Raymond Wight was granted Letters of Administration of Harry’s estate and he claimed the lease and the right to occupy the land.

However, Douglas Wight (Douglas),  Fred’s   only   child,  occupied   the  land.

Raymond sought an order evicting Douglas from the land and also for the payment of damages for unlawful occupation.

Mr Paulsen said the primary issue was whether the three brothers held the lease as joint tenants or tenants in common.

William .F. Payne  Wight  moved to the United States and died there in 1952.

On May 9. 1974 William was granted registered lease No.  2984 of 41a OR 0.3p of the land formerly leased by his father for a term of 50  years   from   November  15, 1974  to   November 14,  2024.

By an Indenture dated November 25, 1976 William  transferred  the  lease to himself, Charley, Harry and Fred.

Throughout their lives the four brothers were close and there was no evidence of any disagreements arising between them. Each brother had a roughly  equal area of Ha’amea for his use.

William,  Charley  and Harry each grew crops and exported fruit and vegetables and raised animals. Fred was in New Zealand and not involved in the export business.

By an Indenture dated May 12, 1980 William transferred the lease to Charley, Harry and Fred and  it  was  re-registered  as  lease  No. 2984C.

Raymond  said  that  William  sold  his  interest  in  the property, Ha’amea  to Harry.

A few years later Charley and his family moved to the United States.  Harry’s work as a teacher took him and his family to the Gilbert Islands and Western Samoa. Fred returned to Tonga and lived on Ha’amea with his wife and Douglas in a house that he built.

About 1990 Harry returned to Tonga and lived at Ha’amea. Harry’s wife and children, including Raymond, migrated to the United States but Raymond travelled back and forth between Tonga and the United States.

Fred died in 1992. Fred’s  widow  moved with Douglas to Ma’ufanga and then migrated to the United States and remarried.

Charley died in the United States in 1993 or 1994. Harry survived  Charley  and Fred  and remained living at Ha’amea.

From 1995 Raymond started to run cattle on Ha’amea. He has also paid the rent and the outgoings on the property since then.

In 2012, Douglas was deported from the United States and returned to Tonga. He asked Harry for permission to live on Ha’amea  and did so for a time in what was known as the Hut. Douglas said that he told Harry that he had a claim to Ha’amea. Harry rejected the notion. Disagreements arose between them and Douglas  was told to leave.

In late 2014, Harry needed medical treatment in the United States. On about 10 October 2014 he signed an authority to his nephew Sione Fatu Wight (Sione) to care for Ha’amea and the  cattle that were on the land.  Sione is a son of William.

Harry went to the United States in late 2014. Douglas returned to Ha’amea and again lived in the  Hut.

In July 2015, Harry signed what purported to be a will in which he expressed a desire to leave all of Ha’amea to Raymond,  Mr Paulsen said.

About October 2015, Raymond realised that Harry was not going to return to Tonga and gave Douglas permission to move into the main house

Harry died on April 12, 2016 in the United States. No application for Letters of Administration of his estate was made at that  time.

There was then a significant change in Douglas’s attitude towards Raymond and Sione. Without permission, Douglas cut down trees and slaughtered cattle on Ha’amea.

In February 2017, Raymond came to Tonga and started legal action to evict Douglas from Ha’amea, but he withdrew that action because he had not applied for Letters of Administration.

He returned to the United States but returned in June 2017 when another cow went missing and Douglas disconnected the water lines.

Raymond was granted Letters of Administration on  August 2, 2017. The only asset in the estate was Harry’s interest in the lease.

Mr Paulsen said Raymond’s case had been that Charley, Harry and Fred held the lease as joint tenants and that the lease devolved upon  Harry  by right of survivorship. The defence argued that the brothers held the lease as tenants in common.

Mr Paulsen said lease was last transferred  to the three brothers by  the Indenture of 12 May 1980 without any indication that they were to hold the land other  than jointly.

On the face  of  the  lease,  the  three  brothers  could  be understood to have held the lease as joint tenants and must be regarded as such, Mr Paulsen said.

He said Raymond had testified that William sold his interest in the lease to Harry alone.

The acquisition  by  one joint tenant of a greater share would sever a joint tenancy because it destroyed the unity of interest.

“This was family land that had in effect been passed down from the brothers’ father to them all.

“It could not have been  the  brothers’ intention that upon their deaths the lease would pass to the lucky survivor of them and to the exclusion of their own immediate families.”

Mr Paulsen said Raymond  had  been granted Letters of Administration in respect of Harry’s estate and he had the right to bring an action for possession of the land.

However, Raymond held Harry’s interest in the lease as a trustee to administer and distribute it in accordance with the Probate Act and might be subject to the supervision of the Supreme Court in this regard.

He said Douglas had no interest in the land. On the death of both Fred and Charley their personal property, which included their interests in the lease, vested in the Supreme Court and became Crown property.

Where a person died wholly  intestate, Letters of Administration must be obtained for the purposes of administering and distributing their estate. Douglas had not applied for Letters of Administration for the land.

Mr Paulsen said Raymond has established a right to administer Harry’s estate and therefore he ordered that Douglas must leave Ha’amea immediately.

Douglas was also ordered to pay Raymond TP$100 damages and his legal costs.

Ramsays’ friends and family share grief of son’s death on social media

By
Kalino Latu
-

The Ramsay’s family and friends shared messages on Facebook to express their love and grief about the death of their 23-year-old son.

Tōfā ‘I Mala’e ‘Āloa Ramsay, the second son of Nancy and late Kamipeli Tōfā Ramsay, died after a house fire on December 15.

Firefighters were dispatched to the scene and found his body inside the familyʻs burning home in Haveluloto, local media reported.

The Ramsays were well-known business family and they owned the Tōfā Ramsay Shipping company which served inter island ferry services in Tonga.

One friend had written “Gone too soon” and another had said “I can’t believe the news”.

Nancy said in a message she sent to Kaniva News on Facebook said that her son’s body will be laid to rest tomorrow Sunday 24 at Takaunove cemetery.



Army officer gets suspended sentence in Vavaʻu manslaughter case

By
Kalino Latu
-

A prison sentence was suspended in the case against an army officer a Supreme Court judge said he contributed to the cause of death of a male teenager in Vava’u.

Judge Charles Cato said although violence was involved there was no evidence that Petelō Tapueluelu punched Kelekōlio Fahiua in the head.

“I consider that this case falls in the lower range,” Judge Cato said.

After considering all the circumstances of the offending as well as Tapueluelu’s character, his cooperation and guilty plea the judge said: “I consider it appropriate to fully suspend his sentence.”

Tapueluelu, 28, admitted he unlawfully punched Fahiua, 18, on 30 December 2016 in Neiafu causing serious injuries to his spine. He died in hospital on arrival.

The court was told the deceased and a friend left a dance at a High School and  commenced drinking a bottle of liquor.

Later that evening, the victim left to meet a girlfriend and much later at 3am he met up with his friend at a restaurant for something to eat.

They heard a commotion and went out to investigate. Tapueluelu, who had been drinking that night, also heard the fight and went to break it up.

He was chasing a large number of youths away when the deceased and his friend walked towards him.

Fahiua asked who he was and swore at him.

Tapueluelu, who has served in the Armed  Forces  for  eight years, walked towards him and punched him twice.

An amended summary of facts showed that he punched him towards the head area  but the  deceased  blocked those  punches with  his  hands. The deceased turned around and  walked  about five metres away before collapsing to the ground with his chin first on the· pavement.

Tapueluelu, who has also served in Afghanistan, where he received  HMAF General   Service  Medal, British Operational Service medal, and an  International Security Assistance  Force medal, ran to his aid and with friends took him to hospital.

Mr. Cato sentenced him for one year and nine months imprisonment.

Because Tapueluelu pleaded guilty Mr. Cato allowed him 12 months and also granted him a further 9 months discount for his record of service, his apology and contribution to the funeral, and his good character overall.

Tapueluelu’s lawyer Mr. Sifa Tu’utafaiva told the court he had advised his client not to plead guilty but he had insisted on doing so.

December a month of reminiscing and loving one another, says community leader

By
Kalino Latu
-

December is a month of remembering the Mercy of God, socialising and a time for kāinga to love one another, said Tongan Community leader Sione Tu’itahi.

He said this was a time to reminisce about what we did throughout the year and what we had planned ahead.

“What was accomplished and what was not,” he wrote in Tongan.

Tu’itahi said a good kāinga (relatives) was the foundation of a good town and nation.

If the foundation was strong the fale (house) could withstand any strong winds, he said.

Tu’itahi, a former Tongan journalist, lecturer at Massey University and now director of the Health Promotion Forum of New Zealand and Secretary of the Aotearoa New Zealand Tongan Church-Faith Leadership Network in Auckland, New Zealand said this in his second monthly Tongan language column for Kaniva News.

In his first article last month, Tu’itahi wrote about the Mate Ma’a Tonga’s participation in the Rugby League World Cup tournament 2017.

In that article he wrote the Mate Ma’a Tonga players had rekindled the kind of courage, respect and peace Tongans have whenever they were defeated in sports.

This week Tu’itahi said he believed the kāinga was the beginning of Tongans’ country exploration, nation building, nation keeping and nation designing.

He believed the kāinga was where the first church, first classroom and the first clinic had been built. The first church leader and teacher as well as first doctor for the children were the parents who were the key features of the kāinga.

He said he had seen the positive outcomes of these in the many years he had been involved in international academic research and work in Tonga.

He said many of the Tongans who were working diligently for the benefits of the country in areas such as religion, education and government were those who had been taught to know of what a good kāinga was.

Tu’itahi said no kāinga was perfect, but kāingas who were prudent, worked hard to achieve certain goals and were patience when there were difficulties, would succeed and with that success would continue to benefit their next generations in contributing to building the nation.

Tu’itahi said if Tongan nation builders and keepers continued to look after those successful Tongans or even foreigners who came from overseas countries to help Tonga, this would confirm an expansion of Tonga to become part of those countries.

These good Tongans from overseas would continue to represent Tonga in sport, faiva, trades, religions and education.

Tu’itahi said big countries like Israel, China and India invited their successful people who had been staying in overseas countries to return or just stay in their foreign countries and contribute to building their homeland.

 

Pictures of booksʻ covers written by Sione Tuʻitahi
Fonua Ola mo hono ngaahi konga lalahi ʻe ono

Cabinet line-up expected this week; Gov’t better off without independents or nobility, says Justice Minister

By
Kalino Latu
-

Tonga’s new cabinet will reflect who the people wanted to be in their government after the snap election, Justice Minister Hon. Vuna Fā’otusia said today.

Details of the cabinet are expected to be announced this week.

The Prime Minister had allowed his cabinet ministers to give him their opinions on who they thought should be in the cabinet.

“It will probably be announced on Friday as we need people to know about it before Christmas,” Hon. Fā’otusia told Kaniva News.

He said he made it clear in cabinet today he did not want anyone from outside the PTOA (Democratic Party) team to be appointed minister as it happened after they took power in 2014.

He said the nobility appeared to not have kept their relationship with the people’s representatives healthy after Prime Minister ʻAkilisi Pōhiva offered them ministerial and governorship posts.

The Minister denied a list of names circulated on social media yesterday with Facebook users saying it was the new cabinet.

“No. We have not yet made up a list as we are still discussing it”, Hon. Fā’otusia said.

“The 14 Members of Parliament elected by the people from PTOA after the snap election have the expertise and experience as well as the academic qualifications to run the government,” the Minister said.

Ministers Outside Parliament

Hon. Fā’otusia said the constitution stipulated that the Prime Minister had the power to appoint four ministers outside Parliament.

“The only problem is that those four ministers cannot vote when it comes to votes of no confidence,” the Minister said.

In a previous interview, Hon. Fā’otusia said he believed it was a good idea for the Prime Minster to use that clause in his decision to make up his ministerial line up.

He said there were very bright Tongan academics who had no interest at all in politics, but could help make the government’s policies and operational matters effective and efficient.

He said the United States political system had proved this to be true as their president was allowed to pick the best people from outside to help him.

Struggle revealed

Hon. Fā’otusia claimed they had struggled in the past to run the government before the snap election because of some of the independents who helped made ‘Akilisi Pōhiva Prime Minister in 2014.

He said the Prime Minister had to please these ministers from time to time and give them whatever they wanted.

These included restructuring some of the Ministries and attaching new ones to each other because the independents wanted to control those ministries.

He claimed some of the cabinet discussion on agendas had been deadlocked because the independents appeared to not want to cooperate with the PTOA ministers.

For more information   

‘Akilisi Pohiva is Prime Minister of Tonga until 2021

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