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Two men arrested and charged after ammo, cannabis and cash seized in Vainī

By
Kalino Latu
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Two men, aged 30 and 53, were arrested and had been charged with unlawful possession of cannabis and ammunition in Vainī, Police said.

The men were remanded in custody to appear at the Magistrate court today Monday 29 May.

Deputy Commissioner Viliami ‘Unga Fa’aoa said: “On Saturday morning 27 May 2017, search warrants were executed in the Vaini area, one at a residential property and one at a tax allotment”.

Police also seized electronic devices, cash and assorted drug paraphernalia.

“There is absolutely no place in our communities for illegal drugs and Police will continue to prosecute those who grow, sell or use illegal drugs,” says Deputy Commissioner Fa’aoa.

Information about drug offending can be passed on to your local Police station or can be made anonymously by phoning 23417 or 25147.

Lord Sevele holds meeting in Auckland amid push to reverse decision on Games host cancellation

By
Kalino Latu
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Lord Sevele, the chair of the executive committee for hosting of the 2019 Pacific Games in Tonga met with some Tongan sports representatives in Auckland this evening as some sports bodies pushed for Prime Minister ʻAkilisi Pohiva to reverse his decision not to host the Games.

Kaniva News understands the meeting was attended by members of the Tonga Aotearoa Amateur Sports Association (TAASA).

TAASA describes itself on Facebook and how it operates as “an administrative sports organisation in junction with TASANOC Tonga”.

It held a meeting earlier on in Otahuhu in which members passed a decision to launch a petition against the governmentʻs stance on the Games.

Lord Sevele wanted to solicit the representatives’ views on what they could do to bring back the Games to Tonga.

The latest statement released by the Prime Minister’s Office on Wednesday last week said the government had considered all possible options before deciding to withdraw from hosting the 2019 Pacific Games.

It said it was a “very difficult” decision.

Lord Sevele arrived in New Zealand this week after he met with 40 delegates from 17 National Federations the week before.

The delegates wanted Lord Sevele to talk to the government about reversing its decision.

Meanwhile the decision by the government to pull out has divided the online Tongan community.

Many stood by the government’s decision describing it as “smart” while others disagreed saying it was “embarrassing”.

Tonga soldiers who abused recruits dismissed and demoted

By
Kalino Latu
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New recruits at His Majesty’s Army Forces had been left traumatised and some refused to return to the military after they became victims of illegal practices.

The Army Forces has dismissed two military officers and demoted two others after they were found guilty of the physical abuse.

The abuse ranges from using an iron rod to burn someone’s back, using a machete, batons and boots, as well as verbal assaults.

Tonga Broadcasting Commission reports said: “A Press Release from HMAF says this was a breach of Law and they do not support such practice”.

The revelation of the misuse of power came to light after complaints from parents.

Bloomfield’s family in US to bring his body home to Tonga

By
Kalino Latu
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The paternal family of William Taufa Volomohea Bloomfield, 24, who died in hospital in the United States after he was struck by a car on Sunday night, May 21, were on their way to bring his body back to Vava’u, Tonga.

William died after he ran into the roadway near 8455 California Avenue – where there is no crosswalk – before the fatal incident happened, US authorities said.

His aunt Fehoko Bloomfield Okusitino said this morning she has arrived in Hawai’i heading to Los Angeles to see her nephew.

They hope to return with the deceased on Thursday next week.

William’s uncle ‘Anisi Bloomfield said he was shocked when he got the news his nephew has died few hours after he left San Francisco for Los Angeles on Friday last week.

‘Anisi, the CEO of the Ministry of Customs and Revenue was in the United States on a government mission.

He said he did not have time to meet with William.

‘Anisi, the eldest brother of William’s father, Richard,  said the family planned to bring William’s body home.

‘Anisi said William was a US citizen because he was born in the United States but spent most of his life in Tonga with his parents.

He went to Tonga Side School and Tonga High School. He ended up studying at Tonga College because he loved playing brass band instruments, ‘Anisi said.

He studied a Diploma at Community Development and Training Centre in Tonga before he went to the University of the South Pacific in Fiji.

“After all these he left for the United States to start a new life”, ‘Anisi said.

“Although the tragedy has struck the family pretty hard we are not grumbling or complaining we accept it despite its difficulty”, ‘Anisi said.

William was married but they had no children.

Man, 22, jailed for carnal knowledge of 7-year-old girl

By
Kalino Latu
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A 22-year-old man who ­raped a 7-year-old girl has been sentenced to eight years in prison.

Petuliki Lave pleaded guilty before Lord Chief Justice Owen Paulsen on May 17 after he committed the crime on 17 November 2016.

The court was told Lave took the child by force and led her to a nearby bush area near her home before he raped her despite her crying out in pain and said she wanted to go home.

Lave told her to wait until he finished. He finally took her back to her house.

The victim’s mother noticed her missing and her younger child pointed to the bush area. Police were called and Lave was arrested.

Justice Paulsen said: “It is the Court’s duty to protect children from this kind of conduct”.

He said the victim was only 7 and she had been “distressed” and “seems to be very adversely affected in her academic performance at school”.

“She seems to have distanced herself from others and become reclusive”.

Justice Paulsen said Lave’s sentence has been made “to adequately reflect Parliament’s concern for children with the maximum sentence being life imprisonment, the age of the victim and the injurious effect this conduct has had which may last indefinitely”.

He said he considered “an appropriate discount to be one of three years imprisonment meaning the sentence I impose upon conviction is one of eight years imprisonment for carnal knowledge of a child under the age of 12 backdated to the date of his remand in custody”.

Justice Paulsen said Lave was remorseful and accordingly he suspended the final year of his sentence on the following:

  • He is not to commit any offences punishable by imprisonment during the period of his suspension.
  • He is placed on probation for the period of his suspension to live where directed by his probation officer.
  • He is not to reside in any residence near the victirn and he is not to reside in any accommodation where girls or young woman are present during his suspension.
  • He is to attend the following courses under the direction of probation; a course on sexual abuse and a course on drugs and alcohol abuse.

On the night before the incident Lave was drunk and was watching pornographic films, the court was told.

“He woke up and saw the victim playing with her sister on the swing. He was sexually aroused. He admitted deceiving the child and taking her into the bush area to have sex with her”.

The court judgement said Lave, a first offender,  is single and his  parents separated when he was about three.

He was adopted by his maternal aunt and lived in New Zealand.

At about 15, he was sent to Tonga and lived with his adopted father. His adopted father and his wife were separated about ten years earlier.

Junior Fa wins against former Aussie champ in unanimous decision

By
Kalino Latu
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Junior Fa beat Hunter Sam by unanimous decision in their six round bout in Auckland on Thursday night.

The win at the ABA stadium means Junior Fa now holds an undefeated record of 12 wins with 7 knockouts.

Fa and Sam fight was the main event at the Shane Cameron-promoted Indian Motorcycles Fight Night.

This makes 12 wins out of 12 fights for Fa.

Seven of those wins were knockout.

Fa has described his performance as “disappointing” and said he would review the fight footage to figure out what went wrong.

Fa – who is signed with Lou DiBella Promotions in the US, will likely defend his NZPBA title in Auckland in July before heading to the US to fight under the Dibella banner.

In February the New Zealand-Tongan based boxer won his debut fight in the United States after he defeated Keith Barr with a knockout in the third round of a scheduled six round fight.

MMA fighter’s mom slaps son and yells at him for losing

By
Kaniva Staff
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By Kyle Schnitzer, New York Post

Growing up under the Kichigin roof must have been tough.

The three Kichigin brothers — Georgiy, Grigoriy and Viktor — all fight in MMA, and their mom, Anna Azovskaya, trained all of them.

Unfortunately for the youngest, Viktor, his mom was in his corner for his regrettable fight on Thursday’s Fight Nights Global 67 card in Yekaterinburg, Russia.

That was just the beginning for what must be Kichigin’s most embarrassing night.

His opponent, Ruslan Yamanbae, eventually won by TKO in the second round by mounting Kichigin and flooding him with a steady diet of elbows and jabs.

That’s when Kichigin’s mom entered the cage.

It initially appeared to be a loving parent tending her wounded son, but that was far from the case.

Kichigin’s mom screams in his bloodied face inside the octagon before slapping him in front of everyone.

Decision to pull out of Games “very difficult” says PM’s office

By
Philip Cass
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The Prime Minister’s office said today it had considered all possible options before deciding to withdraw from hosting the 2019 Pacific Games.

A statement from the office described the decision as “very difficult.”

“Tonga will be no lesser as a nation for not hosting.

“We need to understand that a mirror was held to the sporting face of our nation and it was not a good reflection and has not been for a very long time.

“The lesson here is to own that fact and those of us who have held the wheel will need to be honest with ourselves.”

The Prime Minister’s office reiterated that the decision to withdraw was based on World Bank report which said Tonga could not afford to hold the Games.

As Kaniva News reported earlier this week, the report was completed in 2013, before the current government took power or instituted a series of fiscal measures that have given it a more promising financial standing.

The Prime Minister’s office said the report was not an official report for publication, but was intended only for the attention of the requesting Government.

Tonga was awarded the right to host the games in 2012, but after five years no major investment had been raised outside of Government.

Financing the Games could drain TP$100 million from the government budget, with major affects on services, salaries and employment with little long term gain.

“It is only conceivable to host the games if the Government can be guaranteed that all of the funding can be found from sources outside of the domestic budget, and that most of it will be from new aid sources,” the report said.

“There is no identifiable way to fund the games from domestic revenue or known aid without a totally unacceptable cuts in the extent and quality of government service delivery.”

The main points

  • The Prime Minister’s office said today it had considered all possible options before deciding to withdraw from hosting the 2019 Pacific Games.
  • A statement from the office described the decision as “very difficult.”
  • “Tonga will be no lesser as a nation for not hosting.”
  • The Prime Minister’s office reiterated that the decision to withdraw was based on World Bank report which said Tonga could not afford to hold the Games.

For more information

Financial questions hang over decision to pull out of 2019 Games

Funds already allocated for Games, claims former Minister

By
Philip Cass
-

The government had already allocated funds for the 2019 Games in the coming new 2017/2018 budget, former Minister of Finance, ‘Aisake Eke claimed this week.

Hon. Eke told a meeting of the  Tonga Sports Associations and National Olympic Committee were all specifically aimed to support the preparation for the 2019 Pacific Games.

There would no need for Government to borrow  money or impose extra duties or taxes.

Chairman of 2019 Organizing Committee Lord Sevele presented figures which he said contradicted the claim that the reason to withdraw from the Games was financial.

Lord Vaea, who chaired the meeting, said Tonga should honour its commitment to the Games,

He said the Games were awarded to Tonga in the belief the kingdom would do a good job.

More than 40 delegates from 17 National Federations attended the meeting.

The meeting asked Lord Vaea and Lord Sevele to talk to the government about reversing its  decision.

An emergency meeting of the TASANOC organising committee resolved that they wanted the Games to be staged in 2019 and to seek a meeting with Hon. Pohiva and the government to discuss this issue.

The main points

  • The government had already allocated funds for the 2019 Games in the coming new 2017/2018 budget, former Minister of Finance, ‘Aisake Eke claimed this week.
  • Eke told a meeting of the Tonga Sports Associations and National Olympic Committee were all specifically aimed to support the preparation for the 2019 Pacific Games.

For more information

Decision to abandon Games was “bizarre” says Lord Vaea

Six fishermen missing during strong winds warning rescued after Tonga, NZ and US rescue effort

By
Kalino Latu
-

Six Tongan fishermen who went missing during a gale wind warning for Tonga had been rescued today following a joint rescue effort between the U.S. Coast Guard, Maritime New Zealand and the Tongan navy.

The men arrived safely to Tongatapu aboard a Tongan naval patrol boat after they were initially located by a U.S. Coast Guard HC-130 Hercules aircrew from Air Station Barbers Point, Hawaii, a U.S. Coast Guard District 14 Hawaii Pacific statement said.

The fishermen were missing at sea since Tuesday 23 May 2017 and they were reported missing at 10:25am on Wednesday 24 May, Tongan Police said.

“The fishermen left Nuku’alofa on the Lilite 1 heading to an area near Fonoi Ha’apai for a fishing trip on Monday 15 May 2017, they were expected back on Tuesday 23 May, but by Wednesday morning there was no sign of them”.

According to U.S. Coast Guard watchstanders at Joint Rescue Coordination Center Honolulu its Hercules crew were due to return to Hawaii from Auckland following participation in the regional search and rescue conference when they received a request Wednesday afternoon to look for the missing Tongans.

The Hercules were then diverted from their original mission to respond.

According to US Coast Guards, upon arrival to the search area Wednesday evening, about 80 miles off Tonga, the Hercules crew sighted the fishermen waving a white flag.

They released a long range deployable drop kit to the crew of the disabled vessel which included food and water, a VHF radio, and a transponder.

Watchstanders at JRCC Honolulu notified RCC New Zealand personnel of the vessel’s position. Due to fuel constraints the Hercules crew was forced to depart the scene to American Samoa for fuel and crew rest.

RCC New Zealand personnel provided the position to the Tongan naval patrol boat crew who used the transponder to successfully re-located the fishing vessel and rescue all six men. All six fishermen are reportedly on good condition.

“I’m proud of my crew and how well we represented the United States this past week,” said Lt. Cmdr. Michael Koehler, Hercules pilot, Coast Guard Air Station Barbers Point.

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