Tonga won its second match in the Pacific Rugby Challenge beating Samoa 30-22 at the ANZ Stadium this afternoon.
In its first game last Friday Tonga lost to Fiji Warriors 38-30.
Tonga A will take on Junior Japan on Saturday next week while Fiji Warriors will face the Samoans.
The Pātangata old man who drowned while diving near the village has been named by police.
The body of Sioeli Tuʻakalau, 72, was recovered following a search of the area on March 7.
His cause of death has been confirmed as asphyxiation due to drowning.
A Police investigation was underway after complaints were received about two vehicles being damaged at Hinakauea parking lot in Neiafu on Saturday.
Police said they had received complaints from Taunga motorists who had parked their vehicles at the spot before leaving for the island to attend a funeral.
They returned on Sunday to find their cars had been damaged, Vavaʻu Police Superintendent Natane Falakiseni told Kaniva News.
He said Police suspected the damages had been caused by drunken vandals.
Falakaiseni said the Taunga and Kapa islanders used to park their vehicles in the area before travelling by boats to their islands.
It was alleged on social media that a boat belonged to the Taunga people had been damaged prior to Saturday’s incident but Falakiseni said no complaint had been received in relation to that alleged incident.
The Tonga National Reserve Bank said some retail shops in Tonga have provided foreign exchange services to their customers without holding the required license.
It reminded that people conducting these illegal activities could be imprisoned or fined.
It urged those who were interested in this business to apply for a license.
The Bank said: “The Reserve Bank is responsible for the licensing, regulation and supervision of authorized dealers providing foreign exchange services in and from Tonga.
“Authorised Dealer”, as defined by the Regulation, means “in relation to any foreign currency, a person appointed by the Reserve Bank by notice in the Gazette to act for the purposes of these Regulations as an authorised dealer in relation to that foreign currency. Such appointment may be subject to such restrictions as are set out in the notice.”
The public is reminded that pursuant to Regulation 11, “A person who commits an offence against these regulations shall be liable on conviction – in the case of an individual to a fine not exceeding $200,000 or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 years, if a body corporate, to a fine not exceeding $200,000.”
“The public is hereby notified that by providing foreign exchange services without the required license is an offence and you are to immediately cease and desist such operations and apply to the Reserve Bank for a license. We are urging the public to please report to the Reserve Bank any unauthorized foreign exchange services”.
The Muslim man who was kicked out from Pangai Lahi after he went to offer a prayer for the Queen Mother on Tuesday last week has broken his silence in an interview with Kaniva News.
Peili Lutui Tea, who goes by the Islamic name Mohamed Allah Fatah, said the royal guard who kicked him out was ignorant and favoured only certain churches.
He said the law of the nation should respect a human being’s conscience and if some one wanted to show their love to the Queen Mother they should be allowed to do so.
He said the Queen Mother was loved and he wanted to offer a prayer for her because he was an international religious leader.
Fatah said he was ordained at the Khalifa Four and Five in Egypt.
Fatah claimed he belonged to the king’s royal sea guards known as Fokololo ‘o e Hau through his father Lutui Palelei.
He said he had a duty to accomplish for the Queen Mother and give his blessing for her but it was marred by the royal guard’s ignorance.
He said when he entered Pangai Lahi he wanted to stop and change out of his Islamic clothes, but the royal guard kicked him out.
“Why did they not stop me when I stepped out of the taxi?” Fatah asked.
He claimed Muslims had never broken any laws in Tonga and what the royal guard did had tarnished their good reputation.
It is believed there are about 50 Muslims in the kingdom.
Fatah said there were 73 different Muslim sects in the world.
He said there were two groups of Islam in Tonga and they knew about each other.
Fatah said he belonged to the Ahmadiyya sect while the other group belonged to Sunni Islam led by Imam Ilyas Manu.
As we reported earlier, thousands of Christian mourners gathered in a large marquee outside the palace to pray for the matriarch’s soul.
Ten Christian churches, two other groups and the royal family offered a series of prayer vigil during the Queen Mother’s takipō which began on Tuesday at 6pm and lasted until 6 o’clock on Wednesday morning.
The prayer vigil was conducted by the Free Wesleyan Church of Tonga, Catholic Church, Tonga Tauʻatāina Church, Anglican Church, Church of Tonga, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, Seventh-Day Adventist Church, Tōkaikolo Fellowship, Assemblies of God and the Constitution Church.
The two groups were from the Siaʻatoutai Theological College and Ālonga Centre which was founded by the Queen Mother.
Kaniva News has asked the Palace Office for comment.
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Two Tongans appeared in court this morning in connection to passport fraud investigation conducted by a Police taskforce.
A 44 year-old man from Kolofoʻou was charged with forgery and false declaration.
A 54 year-old man from Tofoa has been charged with forgery and knowingly dealing with forged documents.
They appeared at the Fasi Magistrate Court and were remanded on bail to reappear in court on Monday 20.
The arrests brought the total of those arrested to 23 since the investigation began on August 25, 2015 in which 12 had been convicted.
The head of the Passport Taskforce, Deputy Police Commissioner Viliami ʻUnga Faʻaoa said, “The investigation of passport fraud is taken very seriously. We are taking a zero tolerance approach to reports of passport fraud and putting accused persons before the courts.”
“The Passport Taskforce is working closely with the Ministry of Justice, Tonga Immigration, National Identity Cards Office and the Ministry of Health in combating crimes of identity fraud”.
Dr Palatasa (Tasa) Havea ‘s father repeatedly told him that if he did not get an education he would spend the rest of his life curing copra for a living.
Originally from Vava’u, Dr Palatasa (Tasa) Havea came from a large, poor family.
Dr Havea eventually became the first Tongan to win a doctorate in food technology and is now a senior research scientist with Fonterra.
Now he is using his experience as a poor student to encourage young people to succeed at school.
He said his own difficulties had inspired his work with young people.
“We [Pacific Islanders] don’t always do very well in our education and the Ministry of Education has used me a lot as an example of someone who was really bad at school to help the kids, to see the potential to do well,” he told Stuff.
“We set up programmes to help kids with the literacy and numeracy.
“I think I know how they do well and how they do badly and how to turn them around to become good kids. I try to use my own experience.”
Dr Havea is chair of the Pacific Health Research Committee of the Health Research Council of New Zealand.
He recently stepped down as a member of the advisory board to the Ministry of Pacific Peoples, where he served for 13 years.
Dr Havea’s early years were an educational disaster. He failed grade 10 three times, but after moving to Tongatapu he persuaded another school to let him into the final year after claiming he had completed the school certificate.
With a different set of teachers and a different atmosphere, his grades improved, he won prizes and learned to read and write properly.
After school he joined the Tonga Commodities Board and after studying for two degrees at Massey, joined New Zealand milk producer Fonterra.
A specialist in biotechnology, molecular biology and structural biology, he is a senior research scientist at the Fonterra Research and Development Centre (FRDC).
He took a leading role in research that led to enhanced products that contribute millions to the New Zealand economy.
He is involved in a range of community issues and late last year talked about suicide among teenagers in island communities in New Zealand.
In 2005, he told the Pacific Prosperity Conference that Pacific youth needed role models and mentors, self-discipline and the courage to achieve their dreams.
He is active in his church and sits on the board of International Student Ministries New Zealand.
He and his wife Sesimani have three children.
His daughter, Lueni, became her school’s first Tongan head girl and last year was part of a student team that won the technology prize at the Manawatu Science and Technology Fair.
She also mentors year one to six students in literacy.
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Waitemata Police is asking motorists to please avoid travelling in the wider New Lynn, Henderson and Kelston areas due to severe flooding.
A number of roads in the area have just been closed.
Some parked cars have been inundated with flood waters on Great North Road and another vehicle which was driven into the waters near Edmonton Road had to be pulled out after it became stuck.
Emergency services are in the affected areas and we ask that people please follow their advice carefully.
Posted by New Lynn on Saturday, March 11, 2017
The Tongan government undertook to provide rubbish bins to public places, remove unsafe derelict properties and employ staff to look after public toilets at the capital as part of its move to prepare Vavaʻu for big events in June.
Thousands of Tongan visitors and tourists from overseas were expected to attend the Free Wesleyan Church conference, the 70th anniversary of Siuʻilikutapu Mailefihi college and His Majesty King Tupou VI’s 57 birthday in June as well as the Royal Agricultural Show in July.
The 94th Conference and the school anniversary will be held in Vavaʻu while the Agricultural Show will begin there before it will continue on to other islands.
Prime Minister ʻAkilisi Pōhiva was in Vavaʻu with a government delegation on Tuesday to talk with authorities about the preparations.
Tonga Tourism Minister Hon. Sēmisi Sika said the events would bring huge advantages to the kingdom.
He said the Prime Minister wanted a government-led cleanup and beautification campaign to begin in Neiafu immediately after they met with the Vavaʻu governor on Wednesday.
He said there were derelict properties and abandoned buildings in Neiafu which make the capital look untidy, unsafe for the public and could keep visitors off coming back.
There were no rubbish bins at public places and at the ‘Utukalongalu market, litter and garbage were seen almost everywhere, the Minister said.
He said the government pledged to provide garbage bins to the market and encourage the public to use them for their litter.
There was plan to upgrade public toilet facilities at the wharf in Neiafu and the government undertook to employ staff to manage and look after them.
He said the toilet facilities were closed when they arrived but they should open to the public.
Hon. Sika said the government considered building a fence around the Vaikolēlea historical site and erect a placard with its history there for the visitors.
He said the delegation also met with leaders from private sectors, head of governments, town and district officers and they had welcomed the government’s proposals.
The delegation also visited public roads in Hahake and Hihifo as well as heavy machinery at the Ministry of Infrastructure which the Minister said they no longer working.
A vacant building behind the Police station was ordered by the Prime Minister to be demolished while they were there.
Hon. Sika said Vavaʻu Police and the Prisons Department workers pulled down the building as part of the cleanup campaign.
Tonga Communications Corporation chief executive Rizvi Jurangpathy who appealed a Supreme Court decision to dismiss an application he had submitted has withdrawn the appeal on Thursday.
In December the Supreme Court has dismissed an application by Jurangpathy to have an investigation of his behaviour by the Commissioner for Public Relations halted until a defamation case against Kele’a newspaper has been completed.
In June 2015 the then Member of Parliament Māteni Tapueluelu made a number of allegations against Jurangpathy, which were reported in Kele’a newspaper.
The newspaper alleged that Mr. Jurangpathy had committed indecent acts upon, and was having affairs with, staff members, was misusing TCC funds and dismissing employees for improper reasons.
Mr. Jurangpathy denied the allegations.
However his legal counsel Clive Edwards Snr told the appeal judges in Nukuʻalofa they had decided to withdraw the appeal.
It has been revealed in court the investigation by the Public Relations Commissioner has been completed and a report is to be submitted to the Prime Minister.
This was the first case heard after Tonga’s Court of Appeal 2017 session began hearing six appeals from March 9-10 with judgments to be delivered on Thursday, March 16.
The appeal judges from New Zealand were Michael Moore, Peter Blanchard and Rodney Henson.
