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Ministers' insurance package revealed, PSA pushes for 40% cost of living allowance

By
Kalino Latu
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UPDATED: If the Tongan Cabinet can afford a new insurance scheme for ministers, the kingdom’s 3000 public servants should get a cost of living allowance, the Tongan Public Service Association said this week.

The PSA said it would not be fair if the government could not also fund the 40% cost of living allowance for the kingdom’s 3000 public servants that has been in the news this week.

An exchange of e-mails between the Tongan Treasury and the PSA shows Cabinet has approved funding for the ministers’ insurance policy.

According to a reliable source, Cabinet has approved an insurance scheme worth  TP$400,000 for cabinet members.

A request to the Finance Minister Hon. Lisiate 'Akolo and the Prime Minister Lord Tu'ivakano to confirm the figure had not been answered at the time of writing.

Kaniva  News has been unable to confirm whether the amount is for an individual insurance policy or whether it was a payment for a package to cover all the ministers and cabinet members.

The PSA has told the government it would not be fair if it could not also fund the 40% cost of living allowance.

PSA secretary Mele ‘Amanaki has asked Finance CEO Tatafu Moeaki to confirm that public servants will receive the 40% pay rise based on the cost of living.

In an e-mail to Moeaki the PSA secretary said: “We understood that this is the accumulated COLA approved thus far by Cabinet and that your Ministry is looking at its affordability and what Government can afford to pay.”

“We also understood that your Ministry may be recommending around 5-25% to Cabinet.

“If the Government can finance the recently approved medical insurance for the Cabinet Members, we are sure that Government can finance the maximum limit of the recommended range for COLA for the employees.” 

‘Amanaki said the Finance Ministry should not recommend a range to Cabinet for consideration, but only the maximum limit of the affordable recommended range.

He said the cost of living allowance should be given to all public servants, including the Police and Defence forces.

Nobody who is paid from the public purse should be omitted unless they had been granted a cost of living allowance recently.

The cost of living allowance should be paid from the same source as the medical insurance for Cabinet Members so that the already limited operational budgets of the Ministries are not cut, ‘Amanaki said.

This is the first time the Tongan Cabinet has considered a pay rise for public servants since 2005.

Public service salaries account for three quarters of the government’s annual budget.

The Asian Development Bank recommended last year that the kingdom’s public service wage bill should be cut by nearly half.

The International Monetary Fund said last year that the Tongan government needed to make sure the public service concentrated on priorities and described a situation where control over departmental finances sometimes became hard to follow.

Foa-Lifuka Islands Causeway officially opened

By
Kalino Latu
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It's just got easier for people in Foa Island to get to and from Lifuka Island where the capital Pangai is located.

His Majesty, King Tupou VI, opened the 575m long Upgraded Foa Causeway this morning Thursday 19.

The total upgrade work is about 680m long from Lifuka to Foa including the roadworks beyond each approach to the Causeway.  

It comprised of two reinforced concrete walls and a tarsealed road between the two walls and three double box culverts (for free flow of water under the Causeway) and two side- bays to allow for give-ways and the passing of vehicles.

Statement from government says, the Upgraded Foa Causeway was made possible through financial assistance from the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany as a result of a debt-swap agreement with the Tonga Government.

The original Foa Causeway was built by New Zealand Army engineers beginning April 1979 and completed in February 1980.

Prior to that, travel and trade between the two islands were conducted by boat or on horseback (during low tide). That Causeway had been severely damaged over the years as a result of tropical cyclones and other natural climatic events.

In 1978 the Tonga Government had received a loan from Germany for the purchase of a regional freighter (the MV Fuakavenga) and a domestic ferry (the MV Olovaha).

Under the debt-swap agreement the Tonga Government agreed to use the sum of TOP$4.67 million it would otherwise have had to repay the German Government to fund a major development project within Tonga.

(The Tonga Government was represented at the debt-swap agreement negotiations by the current Governor of the Reserve Bank of Tonga, Sione Ngongo Kioa, when he was still Tonga’s High Commissioner to the United Kingdom.)

In 2009 the two Governments agreed that the debt – swap would be used to upgrade the Foa Causeway and construction began in November 2012.

The Upgrading Project was designed by Tahifisi Vehikite of KTEC Consultants who originally managed it as well.  Mr. Vehikite re-joined Kramer Ausenco (Tonga) Ltd in June 2013 and that company had managed the project in the last 6 months.  

The main contractor for the project was China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC). The Project Site Supervisor was Manase Lavulavu from the Ministry of Infrastructure (MOI). MOI also provided technical oversight of the project whilst the Ministry of Finance and National Planning had financial oversight.

The Ha’apai Development Committee under the Chairmanship of Lord Tu’iha’angana had general oversight of the Project with the assistance of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

The Ceremony of the Official Opening of the Upgraded Foa Causeway began at 10.00am with a Thanksgiving Service led by Rev Dr. ‘Ahio, President of the Free Wesleyan Church of Tonga.

The Welcome Remarks will be made by Lord Tu’iha’angana, Governor of Ha’apai and Chairman of the Ha’apai Development Committee followed by remarks by the Lord Prime Minister, Lord Tu’ivakano on behalf of the Tonga Government and by H.E. Mr. Carl Sanft Honorary Consul of the Federal Republic of Germany in Tonga on behalf of the German Government. His Majesty King Tupou VI will then be invited by Lord Tu’i’afitu, Lord Minister for Health and Deputy Chairman of the Ha’apai Development Committee to officially open the Upgraded Foa Causeway.

Ashley Tonga's youtube on NZ Top 10

By
Kaniva Staff
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Ashley Tonga, dubbed the “drag queen diva from Mangere” who auditioned on X Factor NZ  2012, had her video clip listed as one of the top 10 videos most viewed by New Zealanders on YouTube (endorsed by the Rotorua Daily Post).

1) Ylvis – The Fox (What Does the Fox Say?) Official music video.

The music is catchy enough but listen to the lyrics and you wonder how this tune got to be so popular. One of the surprise hits from 2013 but top marks for finding all those costumes. The fox is now a style icon, whether or not this Norwegian band had anything to do with that we don't know.

2) How Animals Eat Their Food MisterEpicMann

This has to be one of my favourite videos of the year and it still has me crack up.What's your favourite? I like the rhinoceros. Genius clip, simple yet very cleverly executed.

3) Guy finds his house plumbed with beer

Great marketing from Tui, man comes home and finds his house plumbed with beer. Lots of hidden cameras and the big reveal at the end.

4) Blazed – Drug Driving in Aotearoa .

Kids learn from their adult role models – this ad is to promote the dangers of drug-driving by using three kids pretending to be their fathers behind the wheel after they've been "blazing". Comical but also very real.

5) Harlem Shake (original army edition)

Was this dance craze really this year? Apparently this is where it all started. It's only 34 seconds so not too much time wasted.

6) YOLO (feat. Adam Levine & Kendrick Lamar)

You know we are still young so don't be dumb. YOLO – you only live once – can either mean do what you like but this music video is more about not wasting your life, since you only get to live it once. Featuring Adam Levine of Maroon 5 and The Voice fame.

7) JGeeks – The Best Day I Ever Had (Official Video)

I enjoyed this video from the New Zealand's Got Talent crew. Not my cup of tea when it comes to music but it's obviously popular to make it into the top 10. When we watched it yesterday it had 679,882 views.

8) Ashley Tonga audition – Proud Mary – The X Factor NZ

A highlight from the TV3 series and an obvious crowd favourite.

9) UGA Men's Swim & Dive Harlem Shake.

Yet another harlem shake video, this time it's underwater.

10) Te Ao Te Huia audition – It Only Happens – The X Factor NZ

Another X Factor audition, this one is a tearjerker.

These are the trending videos according to YouTube.

Tongan mother and son killed in road accident

By
Kaniva Staff
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A mother and a son of a Tongan family have been killed following a car crash Monday 16 shortly before 11am while a 4 year old  was taken to Grey Base Hospital.

Lavinia Langi a.k.a Manui Kitekei’aho Langi 43, of Houma, Tongatapu  but  lived in  Greymouth, New Zealand  and her  eldest son, the 15-year-old  Lesili Langi were killed when their car went over a bank and landed upside down in a creek near Taylorville, police said.

The mother's husband Tau’ataina Langi, who worked in forestry, had been on a job in Invercargill when he received the devastating news yesterday afternoon.

Relatives said he returned from where he works and is now with the rest of the family.

The couple have seven children and according to relatives the family migrated to New Zealand in 2006.

A relative said Mrs Langi and her sons – drove in the rain to Taylorville, where they went every week "for the cheap meat".

On the way back about 11am, the car flipped and landed on its roof in a creek beside the road.

The mother, 43, and teenage son – a Greymouth High School student, died, but the three-year-old clambered free from the wreck, likely saved by his car seat.

''When witnesses got there, he was already climbing out of the van,'' a family friend said. 

Another relative said the 4 year old had started clambering out of the upturned car and into the fast-flowing creek when he was rescued by members of the public.

Had they not come to his aid the boy could "most certainly'' have been swept away.

The boy was taken to Greymouth Hospital with only minor injuries and was discharged this morning.

Police investigation continues.

Tongan Health Society sacks two board members

By
Kalino Latu
-

UPDATED Dec. 17. The Tongan Health Society in Auckland has today formally sacked two board members over a controversial ‘media article’, an ‘email’ the board considered ‘racist’ and decisions allegedly made against the interest of the organisation.

Former board members Professor  Sitaleki ‘Ata‘ata Finau and his wife ‘Eseta Finau have received letters on Mon, Dec 16 from the board saying they were dismissed.

Prof Finau claimed they were unjustifiably expelled and they pursued legal action. He denied all accusation the board made against him.

Lawyer Mataitini Fotu who is acting for Mrs Finau said he received her letter of dismissal today Mon 16, after the couple were orally informed on December 6 they were sacked.

Fotu said Prof. Finau has been immidiately let go after the meeting on Dec 6 but Mrs Finau was given a chance to resign on voluntary ground with an opportunity to reapply for her jobs in two years time.

Mrs Finau did not accept the board's offer.

Documents regarding their dismissal were not available but Fotu said the grounds in which the board based its decision for the expulsion included claiming the Finaus had actions that " harmful to the Society are hard to define".

Letter to Prof. Finau

The board chair Dr Malakai Ofanoa wrote on September 27 and informed Prof. Finau of actions the board believed he made against the interest of the Tongan Health Society.

He asked Prof. Finau to attend a meeting by a  “disciplinary committee of the Board to discuss these matters and to hear” his views.  

The letter to Prof. Finau says, “The Board believes you were involved with the publishing of the media article by Mr Melino Maka subjecting the organisation and Board to negative public scrutiny.

“There are statements in the article that could only have come from someone closely associated with the Society,” it says.

“Your emails toward the newly appointed CEO Dr Glenn Doherty are considered racist.

“Unauthorized spending and employment of surplus staff adds unnecessary pressure on an already difficult financial position of the organisation.

“You have caused strain in the relationship between the organisation and our funding agencies with detrimental effects.

“Board strongly believes you have subjected the organisation to serious risks.

Should the findings of this exercise is supportive of the allegations then there is the possibility that the Board will activate the relevant clauses of the constitution which may result in the Termination of your membership with the Society,” the letter says.

Maori GP appointed CEO

Towards the end of August an Auckland GP Glenn Doherty appointed chief executive of the Tongan Health Society.

Dr Doherty is Maori and was chosen from 15 candidates, including Prof. Sitaleki Finau, the society's acting chief executive at the time.

The board announced that "Dr Doherty is the best person for the job" and that he “has proven his commitment to the Tongan community with eight years of volunteer experience in Tonga”.

However, the Tongan Advisory Council chair Melino Maka did not agree with the Society in Doherty’s appointment.

In August 27 a media statement released by Mr Maka titled: Bad news for Tongan Health Society, Langimalie.

Mr Maka claimed, “the Langimalie Clinic came through a hard time where at one point it has to be closed for good”.

The statement continued to say that “In 2012 the Board made a smart move and appointed Professor Finau as interim CEO. He immediately made the tough decisions and has successfully steered Langimalie back on course.”

The release says, “The Tongan Advisory Council is disturbed to learn that the successful candidate has little knowledge of Tongan people or culture, does not speak Tongan and has no proven management experience”.

Emailing on September 9, Prof Finau and ten others who signed a letter to the board chair Dr 'Ofanoa announced a 'special meeting' to be held in 10 days. They said the meeting complies with the Society’s constitution.

They called on the Tongan community to attend the meeting and to discuss issues including “The rationale for the recent appointment of a non-Tongan CEO and what process was used”.

The meeting was eventually postponed until next year 2014.

Langimalie Clinic

The Tongan Health Society has two health centres known as Langimalie Health Centre Panmure and Langimalie Health Centre Onehunga.  

It claims to have 6000 patients and four GPs and provide high quality healthcare for all patients with what they described as “Tongan style of service”. 

Man will be deported to Tonga after jail terms

By
Kalino Latu
-

The man who fired a gun at his ex-wife’s head in June 16, 2012, is going to prison for 10 years.

Sione Mafi Vaioleti, 61, was sentenced in the High Court at Auckland on Friday with a minimum non-parole period of three years and six months for the attempted murder of his former wife.

The Tongan overstayer shot Losaline Fifita, 61, in the head during a domestic dispute.

The court was told Vaioleti had returned from a night drinking with his friends drunk and shouting that Fifita tells him where a stash of money was hidden.

Fifita did not tell him where it was and Vaioleti punched her in the head.

He then retrieved a pistol and brought it into the bedroom, hit the victim in the head and shot her in the jaw.

Fifita survived the shooting but the bullet caused "massive destruction" to her teeth, jaw and became lodged in the back of her neck, Justice Priestley said.

After Vaioleti's sentence is completed, he will be deported back to Tonga

Statement reveals Tonga Police commissioner under investigation

By
Kalino Latu
-

Tonga Police have released a statement amid allegation that the Police Commissioner Grant O’Fee was resigning with two other top police officers being dismissed and demoted.

“It is understood that these rumors are based on the information released that the Commissioner is under Investigation on a Cabinet decision. This rumor was brought in to the attention of the Commissioner of Police by members of the Tonga Media,” the statement says.

The police statement quoted O’Fee as saying, “I am not resigning”.

It also says there was a rumour that  “Deputy Commissioner ‘Unga Fa’aoa has been demoted while Acting Deputy Commissioner Salote Tonga has been dismissed from the Tonga Police”.

Salote Tonga “has not being dismissed or Fa’aoa demoted,” confirmed Commissioner of Tonga Police Grant O’Fee

Faua Wharf death: man died from natural causes

By
Kalino Latu
-

The 56-year-old man found dead at Faua Wharf  Monday Dec 9 died from natural causes, a coroner said

Mr. Sione Ikahihifo Mafi (56)  was living at Pahu in Tongatapu but he comes from Petani, 'Eua.

Mafi’s body was released to his family after the inquest yesterday police said.

A security guard first saw the man sitting outside Reef Café at the wharf.

The security guard was on his way to a ferry that arrived from Eua at 6:00pm.

When the guard returned from the ferry he saw the same man but this time he was lying down. He checked and found out he was unresponsive.

Police were called to the scene and the man was rushed to Vaiola Hospital where he was pronounced dead.

Siueni Filimone – another rising star

By
Tevita Katoa
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Kaniva news interviewed Tonga’s 100m and 200m sprint star, Siueni Filimone.

He was born on the 19/08/1994 and raised up in the village of Koulo, Haʻapai by his parents, ʻAkimeta Filimone of Koulo and Lotofoa and Melelatai Uasi Filimone of ʻOʻua.

Siueni said at school he favoured music more than athletics but he changed his mind since he moved to the main island, Tongatapu. He was then 17-year-old.

At secondary school he was chosen by Tupou College intermediate team to compete at the 100m and 200m sprints. This year, 2013, he broke Tongan national records in 100m and 200m sprints.

 Representing Tonga

Siueni and other three athletes were invited to the New Zealand National Youth Games competition held in Hamilton last week. Siueni competed at the 100m and 200m, ʻAna Katiloko competed on long and stepping jump, ʻAtamaama Tuʻutafaiva on Short-put and Liʻekina Kaufusi on 100m and hurdles.

Siueni said he pulled out of 200m so that he could only concentrate on 100m sprint.

He was qualified for the 100m finalists and became first – a gold medal for Tonga.

Siueni said he was not really happy with the result because he trained so hard with his personal coach, Tevita Faʻonuku and targeted to finish at 10.04sec. Unfortunately his coach was not able to come with him due to financial difficulty. He believed he could do better if his coach was with him.

South Pacific Mini-games

In August this year, he represented Tonga at Pacific Mini-games held on the island of ʻUvea. That was an open event and he came fourth.

In 2012, Siueni represented Tonga in the Junior World Championship held in Spain. That was his first international appearance in the sport arena.

This year, 2013, he also represented Tonga in the World Senior Championship held in Russia where he met the fastest man in the world Usain Bolt.  

Siueni wanted to represent Tonga in the South Pacific Games 2015, Commonwealth Games and Olympic Games in 2016.

He has asked the public and the people of Tonga for sponsorship. He said he competed at the international competitions without his coach because of lack of funding.

Proposal: civil servants in Tonga to receive 40% cola

By
Kalino Latu
-

Despite Tonga relying on overseas donors to fund 54% of its budget 2013/14, a proposal by the government last week will give civil servants a 40% cost of living allowance  if it is approved.

Tonga government has more than 3000 workers in which overseas countries including Australian government assists in funding salary for certain ministries including the Ministry of Health, Police and Education.

About 75% of the government annual budget is allocated to pay salaries and wages for its workers.

In last July the Asian Development Bank  recommends in a new economic report that for Tonga to get its economy back on track it has to reduce the size of its public service and a reduction of the wage bill to 45%.

The COLA proposal is the first time in eight years the government considered its civil servants salaries and wages since the pay rise in 2005. More than 10,000 Tongans took to the street to support public servant strikers who went on strike at the time after the government announced  that only the top levels of civil servant hierarchy would receive pay increases.

The strikers finally returned to work after agreeing with the government to a proportional 60,70,80 per cents pay rise, a move that analysists say it was one of the factors that contribute to an on-going battle by the Tongan government to revive its economy. 

Request for comment was sent to Treasury but was redirected to the PSA CEO Dr.  Palenitina Langa’oi. Kaniva News has not received any response yet.  

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