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Citizenship fundamental to Tongan system of land tenure, court told

By
Kalino Latu
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It was a fundamental tenet of Tongan land tenure that only Tongan subjects could hold a life interest in any town or tax allotment, the Lands Court was told this week.

The ruling was made in a dispute between a widower and the oldest son of her husband’s first marriage over ownership of land and a house.

The court was told that when Toakase Panuva’s husband Sionatapi died, she claimed and was granted his town and tax allotments as widow under section 80 of the Land Act.

Before his death her husband granted a lease of his town allotment to his oldest son, Tapu. However, the lease was not registered until after Toakase was registered as the holder of the town allotment.

Toakase asked the court to cancel the lease, while Tapu wanted her registrations of the tax and town allotments cancelled on the ground that Toakase was not a Tongan citizen when his father died. He also wanted a declaration that he owned the house on the town allotment.

Toakase was born in Tonga in 1948 and married a Tongan man in the United States in 1974. She became a US citizen in February 1982. She was divorced from  her  first  husband  in 1986.

Sionatapi’s first wife was named Ana. He had a town allotment at Haveluloto registered in 1989 and a tax allotment at Pelehake registered in 1996.

In around 1989 Sionatapi agreed  with his sons Tapu and Semisi to  build a house  on his town allotment. They borrowed the  money  to  build  the  house from the Bank of Tonga and agreed to share the loan payments. Ana died in December 1989.

On June 15, 1991 Sionatapi married Toakase in the United States   and brought her to Tonga  to  live in the house with  his children.   In August that year Tapu married and left the house to live elsewhere with  his wife.

Sionatapi retired in 1992 and in 2000 Toakase went back to the United States for work  until 2009 and sent her husband money.

In 2003, Sionatapi asked Tapu to help repay the bank loan in return for a lease of his town allotment.

In November 2004, Cabinet approved the lease, but it was not registered until 2015.

In 2009 Toakase returned to Tonga and lived with Sionatapi until he died in July 2012. At the date of Sionatapi’s  death she was still an American citizen.

Before making a claim for Sionatapi’s town and tax allotments as his widow, Toakase applied for and regained her Tongan nationality. Sionatapi’s town and tax allotments were registered in  her  name  in 2013.

Having considered previous rulings on the rules surrounding citizenship and land ownership, Judge Paulsen said Toakase was not entitled to claim Sionatapi’s tax or  town  allotment  because she was not  a Tongan subject on the date that he  died, the judge said.

Her registration must therefore be cancelled.

He said it was basic to Tongan land laws that the only people who could hold a lifetime  interest in town and tax allotments were citizens.

“It would be peculiar that a Tongan born male is, as a result of taking foreign citizenship prior to the 2007 amendments to the Nationality Act, deprived of his right to hold a tax  or  town allotment yet a widow who has similarly lost her Tongan nationality retains  that right,” the judge said.

“The Land Act created a unique system of land tenure in Tonga where all land is given by  grant  and not  sold for  money  and life interests  in land are reserved for Tongan people to ensure their welfare. The prevention of alienation of land to foreigners was regarded as a vitally important policy for Tonga’s future. Life interests in land carry cultural and customary obligations  which  non­Tongans cannot be expected and would not perform and thus were  reserved for Tongan subjects  only.”

The judge said he declined to  make a finding  that Tapu  was the owner  of the house or as to  the  validity or otherwise of the  lease.

The main points

  • It was a fundamental tenet of Tongan  land  tenure  that  only  Tongan subjects could hold a life interest in any town or tax allotment, the Lands Court was told this week.
  • The ruling was made in a dispute between a widower and the oldest son of her husband’s first marriage over ownership of land and a house.
  • Judge Paulsen said the widow was not entitled to claim the tax or town  allotment  because she was not  a Tongan subject on the date that he
  • Her registration must therefore be cancelled.

Conspiracy theorists claim solar eclipse will cause world to end

By
International Media
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The world is predicted to end in a matter of weeks if one conspiracy theorist is to be believed.

Christian numerologist David Meade has once again warned of the possibility that the giant mysterious planet ‘Nibiru’ is about to crash into Earth.

According to his bizarre theory, this month’s solar eclipse will signal that the planet, which has never been observed by scientists, is about to collide with our own.

Mr Meade uses several passages from the Bible to back his unusual claims.

Despite a lack of evidence for the hidden world, which Nasa has previously stated is an ‘internet hoax’, many people believe it is real.

Nibiru, and is sometimes referred to as Planet X, has been predicted to end the world several times since 2003.

Earlier this year, Mr Meade claimed that Nibiru would clash with Earth in October after being driven here by the gravitational pull from a ‘binary star’ twinned with the sun.

He said the star is difficult to spot because of the angle it is approaching Earth.

Now the conspiracy theorist has moved his date forward, claiming that the upcoming ‘Great American Eclipse’ will signal the planet’s arrival.

On August 21, just before the alleged apocalypse occurs, US sky-gazers will be treated to a total solar eclipse visible from coast to coast.

Following the eclipse, the huge planet will appear on the horizon and crash into Earth, wiping out humanity.

Mr Meade said the upcoming eclipse was a warning sign.

‘The Great American Eclipse of August 21, 2017, is a major – huge – harbinger,’ he told the Daily Star.

The conspiracy theorist said that after the eclipse Nibiru will appear in the skies on September 23 before colliding with Earth.

‘The rising sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light.’

Mr Meade claimed that there are several coincidences involving the number 33 that also suggest the apocalypse is near.

His latest claims follow his original apocalyptic predictions, which came in January after he claimed a star, which he calls ‘a binary twin of our sun’, is coming ‘at us towards the south pole’.

Mr Meade, author of the book ‘Planet X – The 2017 Arrival’, said the star will bring with it ‘seven orbiting bodies’, including Nibiru, a large, blue planet that he also refers to as Planet X hurtling towards our planet.

Nibiru, sometimes referred to as Planet X, is a hypothesised planet on the edge of our solar system.

Conspiracy theorists believe the gravitational influence of the ‘rogue planet’ Nibiru disrupted the orbits of other planets hundreds of years ago.

Writing a piece for Planet X News in January, Mr Meade said: ‘This system is, of course, not aligned with our solar system’s ecliptic, but is coming to us from an oblique angle and toward our South Pole.

‘This makes observations difficult, unless you’re flying at a high altitude over South America with an excellent camera.

In his book,  he claims to put forward scientific evidence, but readers commenting on the book say the argument quickly develops into a religious argument.

One reviewer says: ‘on his website he focus on facts and science, astronomical ‘evidence’ to lure some readers into his material, but after a dozen pages it starts to get all religious for almost 40 pages, more than a 1/3 of the book, mentioning visions and dreams.’

He continues, the ‘author mentions several times how certain things are ‘facts’ just because ‘God said so on the Bible’, and then goes on and on over the rapture.’

The scientific community does not agree Nibiru exists.

‘Nibiru and other stories about wayward planets are an internet hoax,’ Nasa has said previously. ‘Obviously, it does not exist.’

NZ-based Tongan man electrocuted while attending his father’s funeral in Kolomotu’a

By
Kalino Latu
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A Tongan man who lived in South Auckland, New Zealand was electrocuted after he had arrived in Tongatapu to attend his father’s funeral.

‘Isileli Palu, 36, of Otara died on Thursday night, August 3 at his family residence in Kolomotu’a when they were erecting tents for the funeral.

Police said Palu touched a power cord as they were putting up the tents.

He died instantly from the electrocution at around 9:00pm, Police said.

As Kaniva News reported, a 52-year-old man from ‘Eua was electrocuted while using a washing machine at his house in early this year.

In March 2016, a mother of three who was also a teacher at Tupou college was electrocuted when she attempted to unplug a power extension cord outside her house.

Police were investigating the cause of Palu’s death.

Tonga unaware of legal action taken by PGC against its cancellation of Games host

By
Kalino Latu
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The Tongan government was unaware of any legal action yet after Pacific Games council said it had taken legal action against its decision to pull the plug on hosting the 2019 Pacific Games.

The Council formally terminated its host agreement with Tonga for the Games,  after the kingdom said it could not afford the enormous challenge of mobilising finance and the impact of the cost on Tonga’s budget deficit.

The Council has begun legal proceedings against the kingdom in July, Radio New Zealand reported.

But one month after the announcement Prime Minister ‘Akilisi Pohiva told Parliament last week no official information had been communicated to the government regarding the issue.

The Council’s CEO Andrew Minogue told media they had engaged a solicitor in Tonga and “will now pursue damages through the court”.

Tonga said previously the cabinet had passed a resolution to hire a top lawyer from New Zealand to assist it in any legal challenges after the Council reportedly threatened it would take legal action against its move to cancel the host.

“Meanwhile, Guam had joined Samoa in expressing interest to host the 2019 Pacific Games.

“Guam last hosted the Games in 1999 in Santa Rita and previously in 1975 at Tumon.

“The Pacific Games Council said French Polynesia would also bid to hold the games after Tahiti missed out on winning hosting rights to Tonga.”

New Zealand may open up places for higher earning workers under RSE

By
Philip Cass
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The New Zealand government will investigate opening up the Recognised Seasonal Employment scheme to semi-skilled and higher income occupations.

The RSE has offered places to seasonal workers in agriculture in New Zealand in unskilled areas.

New Zealand Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Gerry Brownlee, said the changes could allow access to higher level jobs where jobs could not be filled by local labour.

He said Pacific Island nations had asked for more opportunities for their workers that went beyond what was currently available.

Brownlee made the announcement at a conference, Strengthening Pacific Partnerships Phase Two,  which concluded in Auckland last week.

CEO of Tonga’s Ministry of Internal affairs, Tonga’s Ana Bing Fonua and Kolotia Fotu from the Ministry of Labour and Commerce attended the meeting.

The RSE scheme is a decade old and involves 10,500 workers.

However, while the number of Pacific states taking part had risen, the number of workers from some states, notably Kiribati, Tuvalu, Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, and Nauru, remained low because of their distance from New Zealand and the high cost of airfares.

The goal of the scheme over the next 10 years was to help Pacific countries by providing more opportunities for workers and help their economies by increasing the flow of remittances from RSE workers.

He said the design of the second phase of the scheme was based on interviews with a wide range of senior officials from Pacific states, employers and workers, community leaders and studies of Pacific labour carried out by the Ministry of Foreign affairs and Trade.

As part of the second phase the New Zealand government would look at ways to develop opportunities for woman and for people to work in sectors requiring industry-specific skills and qualifications.

Earlier this year Tuvalu called for more opportunities for skilled workers and Samoa said it wanted the cap on the numbers of RSE workers lifted.

The main points

  • The New Zealand government will investigate opening up the Recognised Seasonal Employment scheme to semi-skilled and higher income occupations.
  • The RSE has offered placed to seasonal workers in agriculture in New Zealand in unskilled areas.
  • New Zealand Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Gerry Brownlee, said the changes could allow access to higher level jobs where jobs could not be filled by local labour.
  • He said Pacific Island nations had asked for more opportunities for their workers that went beyond what was currently available.

For more information

New Zealand looks to extend RSE scheme

Pacific nations want to review numbers on the RSE scheme

Search for boy who vanished into the ocean in Vaotuʻu

By
Kalino Latu
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Tongan authorities were searching for a boy who went missing Saturday while at the shore of a Vaotuʻu beach, in Tongatapu.

Salesi Limoni, 8, was reported missing after his parents failed to locate him according to reports.

Further details were not immediately available.

Meanwhile heartbreaking photos uploaded to Facebook by friends and family showed dozens of people combing the water off the Kele’amaka beach in an effort to find the missing boy.

Some photos showed a crowd of people linking arms while some, appeared to be family members, can be seen holding and consoling each other on the shore.

Tokaikolo President’s son takes care of children as Schaaf’s body laid to rest

By
Kalino Latu
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The son of the Tokaikolo church’s president pledged to look after five children as their father’s body was laid to rest yesterday at Niumata cemetery in Lavengamālie, Tofoa.

Tala’ofa Schaaf, who was also known as Tala’ofa Saafi, died suddenly in his sleep on July 24.

Sangstar Saulala, the Tokaikolo President’s son,  told Kaniva News his family was honoured when Schaaf’s paternal and maternal family offered the honour  of performing the fahu (man’s sister’s children, regarded as holding the highest respect, to sit in front of the corpse) to one of his children.

The rare move was a show of great respect and appreciation towards the close relationship the deceased had with the Saulala family, Sangstar said.

Saulala, a former MP and government Minister, took to Facebook yesterday to thank Schaaf’s mother Lesieli and Latu Sisifa from the deceased’s paternal side for the offer and honour.

Schaaf’s burial service was attended by Benhur Kivalu, an international Tongan rugby union player, staff of the Tongan Rugby Union office and many others from the rugby community in Tonga, Saulala said.

As Kaniva News reported on July 24, Schaaf, 37,  worked as a Senior Development officer at Tonga Rugby Union office.

He also worked as a registrar at the Lavengamalie Institute of Technology and coached  the Lavengamalie Hurricanes.

TRU boss Fe’ao Vunipola described Schaaf as an “outstanding employee”.

Schaaf and his family stayed at the Tokaikolo church’s property, Lavengamalie, where the Saulala family reside.

Saulala described him as a “brother”.

Yesterday the Lavengamalie Hurricanes defeated the Marists champs after their rugby match at Halaano.

Saulala said they were really pleased with the result as it was intended to mark and honour the death of Schaaf.

Schaaf is survived by his wife Judy Lauaki Schaaf and children.

The main points

  • The son of the Tokaikolo church’s president pledged to look after six children as their father’s body was laid to rest yesterday at Niumata cemetery in Koloua ‘o Kolomotu’a.
  • Tala’ofa Schaaf, who was also known as Tala’ofa Saafi, died suddenly in his sleep on July 24.
  • Sangstar Saulala, the Tokaikolo President’s son said his family was honoured when Schaaf’s paternal and maternal family offered the honour of performing the fahu (man’s sister’s children, regarded as holding the highest respect) to one of his children.
  • Saulala, a former MP and government Minister, took to Facebook yesterday to thank Schaaf’s mother Lesieli and Latu Sisifa from the deceased’s paternal side for the offer and honour.

For more information

Rugby Community reels at death of Tala’ofa Saafi

Pago Pago Court told Tongan woman admitted parcel contained drugs

By
Philip Cass
-

A Tongan woman admitted to customs officers that a parcel she tried to collect contained drugs worth nearly TP$200,000, a court has been told.

Giving testimony in a remand hearing in American Samoa, the customs officers said woman, Mele Moimoi Mapu, told them the parcel contained crystal methamphetamine, commonly known as ice.

A sniffer dog detected the drugs and customs officers at the post office in Pago Pago waited for her to collect the parcel last week.

Mapu faces up to 10 years in jail under American Samoan law.

She has been remanded in custody and will appear in the High Court on the charges.

Police estimated there were more than two kilograms of the drug with an estimated street value of US$90,000, equivalent to TP$198,000 or NZ$120,000.

Mapu told the remand hearing she bought the methamphetamine from a man she met on Facebook, but had never met in person.

Judge Gwen Tauiliili remanded the case to the High Court.

Apart from imprisonment, a conviction could also incur a penalty of $US10,000.

Samoa News reported that a total of four kilos of methamphetamine and four kilos of marijuana were detected being smuggled through the Fagatogo post office in American Samoa in February this year.

And in December last year, Radio New Zealand reported that a woman had been arrested in the US territory after sniffer digs detected drugs with an estimated street value of US$150,000 being smuggled in a parcel of computer parts.

The American Samoan legislature passed laws in 1999 making the possession of even small amounts of illegal drugs punishable by long jail terms with no possibility of parole.

The main points

  • A Tongan woman admitted to customs officers that a parcel she tried to collect contained drugs worth nearly TP$200,000, a court has been told.
  • Giving testimony in a remand hearing in American Samoa, the customs officers said woman, Mele Moimoi Mapu, told them the parcel contained crystal methamphetamine, commonly known as ice.
  • A sniffer dog detected the drugs and customs officers at the post office in Pago Pago waited for her to collect the parcel last week.

For more information 

Ice found in mail valued at $90,000

Sniffer dog finds drugs in mail in American Samoa

Fagatogo Post Office drug bust involves postal worker

Five in hospital, two remain in stable condition after two separate crashes in Tongatapu

By
Kalino Latu
-

Five passengers were rushed to hospital after two separate car crashes in Tongatapu early this morning Saturday 5.

Two of them remained in Vaiola hospital in a critical but stable condition after a car they were in hit a sign post in Teʻekiu.

Three passengers including another person from the Teʻekiu crash and two victims from a crash in Veitongo were still being processed at the outpatient ward with minor injuries when  Kaniva News was talking to a Ministry of Health spokesperson.

The Teʻekiu victims were travelling along the Hihifo road with two other persons including the driver before the incident occurred, the spokesperson said.

Alcohol was believed to be a factor in that accident.

The spokesperson said no one was killed in these crashes according to the hospital’s record.

The other two passengers were currently being processed in hospital after their vehicle hit a power pole in Veitongo.

The driver of that vehicle was allegedly asleep and he was unhurt.

Custom boss apologises as corruption complaint laid against staff at airport

By
Kalino Latu
-

The Chief Executive Officer of the Ministry of Revenue and Customs, Kulu ‘Anisi Bloomfield, has apologised to a complainant who accused his staff at Fu’amotu International airport of bribery and corruption.

Bloomfield said the complaint could have been resolved quickly if the complainant had spoken to the officer in charge of the airport so they could work directly with him there and with those who were involved.

Bloomfield said it was difficult to investigate the allegation without any concrete evidence although the Ministry would look at the complaint if its office received any solid information.

Auckland-based Sylvester Tonga alleged that he was told when he flew into the airport recently  that he and others who were queued to clear their luggage would have their luggage cleared more quickly depending on how much money they paid staff.

Tonga told Kaniva News he was surprised to see how the alleged corruption was conducted in front of the travellers.

He has lodged a complaint with the Ombudsman’s office.

Tonga alleged a man paid money to the staff and he was removed from the queue straight away and allowed to pick up his luggage and go.

He also alleged two men in front of him in the queue gave a carton of cigarettes and alcohol to two customs staff who policed the queue. These travellers were then allowed to go without having their luggage scanned in the x-ray scanner.

Tonga claimed a female custom officer approached him and others and asked if there was any stuff in their luggage that could pose a danger, to which he replied in the negative.

The woman then looked at another customs officer who told the woman jokingly that Tonga was a rich man.

Tonga replied he was not and had no money because he was poor.

The man then indicated to another man who stood by the scanner to take Tonga’s luggage and scan it.

Tonga claimed he was told to pay TP$100 at a booth, but when he asked the cashier for a receipt he was told there was none.

He said when he was asked by the ombudsmen for concrete evidence to support his complaint he asked them to check the log book at the airport to see who were working on June 29 when their flight arrived.

Bloomfield called on travellers who arrived at the airport to take pictures and videos if they could to support any complaint against staff at the airport.

He said the Ministry would wait for a contact from the Ombudsman’s office regarding Tonga’s complaint.

The main points

  • The Chief Executive Officer of the Ministry of Revenue and Customs, Kulu ‘Anisi Bloomfield, has apologised to a complainant who accused his staff at Fu’amotu International airport of bribery and corruption.
  • However, Bloomfield said the complaint could have been resolved quickly if the complainant had spoken to the officer in charge of the airport so they could work directly with him there.
  • Auckland-based Sylvester Tonga alleged that he was told at the airport recently that he and others who were collecting their luggage were told they could clear it quickly if they paid the staff.
  • Tonga told Kaniva News he was surprised to see how the alleged corruption was conducted in front of the travellers.
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