The government has no plans to build houses for the tsunami victims now living in tents at ‘Atatā Si’i.
Tents set up at ‘Atatā Si’i after government ordered tsunami victims to move from a hall they were staying in for about two years after the Hungas deadly eruption. Photo/Kaniva Tonga News
As Kaniva News reported recently, a group of people who survived the tsunami had been living in a church hall, even while other people from the original village of ‘Atatā had been moved into new houses.
They were recently ordered by the government to move to ‘Atatā Si’i and live in tents.
Deputy Prime Minister Samiu Vaipulu told the Legislative Assembly the houses of the 19 families who were moved to ‘Atatā Si’i had not been damaged by the tsunami.
Hon. Vaipulu said the assessment report for the reconstruction projects was based on those whose houses had been damaged. He told the House the ‘Atatā Si’i estate holder had provided land for the tsunami victims and that the government was looking for funding.
“Leave it for the government to figure out what to do for these people.,” Hon. Vaipulu said.
He said the estate holder has given land for the people, but the government was looking for funding.
Former Finance Minister Dr ‘Aisake Eke asked Vaipulu to confirm when the people living in tents would have houses built if they had been given land.
The Deputy Prime Minister said if money could be photocopied the houses would have already been built.
Responding, Hon. Eke told Vaipulu he had seen the budget and there was enough money to build the few houses needed. He said the people who had been told to live in tents did not know what the government panned for them.
He said he was baffled by the government’s plan to exclude these people from the government’s tsunami rebuilding plans as the island was in a “red zone”. Hon. Eke said these people should not be allowed to go back to ‘Atatā. He questioned why the government considered returning them to the island.
“They saw the deadly wave,” he said, referring to the devastating experience they faced on the day the tsunami struck the island.
“These people did not want to return” to ‘Atatā, Hon. Eke said.
The victims were described as living in a state of constant apprehension (“nofo ‘i lelenga”). The House was told the people had faced problems while living in the hall, including at one stage having the electricity disconnected. It is understood the power bills were paid by the government’s National Emergency Management Organisation (NEMO).
The Deputy Prime Minister scolded NEMO in the House for failing to make sure the power bills were paid. The House was also told these Atatāans had often fallen out with the owner of the hall, which was the Siasi ‘O Tonga church.
Hon. Eke accused the government of failing to make sure these people were living harmoniously with the owners of the hall.
MP Tevita Puloka said one of the reasons these people were still living in Tongatapu was because there was no more school in the island.
The ‘Atatā people were first evacuated to ‘Isileli in Kolomotu’a and lived there temporarily before being moved to the Maliukuonga hall of the Siasi ‘o Tonga at Kapetā, Kolomotu’a.
Tonga’s Lulutai Airlines will soon be able to fly its new aircraft to service the country’s domestic route.
Lulutai Airlines de-Havilland Twin-Otter. Photo: Tonga High Commission Canberra
The Tonga High Commission Office in Canberra confirmed on Friday that the de-Havilland Twin-Otter was in Australia in the last week of October for final preparation before flying to Tonga to begin its service.
Tonga’s acting High Commissioner to Australia Curtis Tuihalangingie was able to inspect the aircraft on Thursday and confirmed the aircraft was leaving for Tonga on Friday.
The Australian government had provided the Tongan government with AU$1.25 million to help with transporting the aircraft, train pilots to fly it, purchase spare parts needed and ensure its smooth transition into servicing the people of Tonga.
Australia has been providing support to Lulutai Airlines since mid-2022 in critical areas, such as training for pilots and engineers, a wet-lease arrangement with Fiji Airways to operate regular flights while their fleet was grounded for maintenance, as well as regional cooperation and collaboration with other Pacific Island airlines.
They are also working with Lulutai Airlines to develop a long-term sustainable business plan to support fleet growth as well as good reservations and sales system enhancements.
Tongan Prime Minister Hu’akavameiliku Siaosi Sovaleni had stated last month that the aircraft would help Lulutai meet the demands of local travel.
“This new aircraft is a much-needed boost to our current fleet and will help us keep families, communities, tourism operators and businesses connected,” he had said in a statement.
Australia’s High Commissioner to Tonga Rachael Moore said Australia is proud to partner with the Kingdom to support Lulutai Airlines achieve reliable, sustainable and safe domestic connectivity.
“The entry into service support will ensure Lulutai Airlines can start operating their new aircraft as soon as it arrives in Tonga,” she said in the statement.
“Reliable domestic air travel remains essential to Tonga’s economic recovery, development and tourism.”
She said Australia remains committed to helping build a stronger Pacific family and to navigate shared challenges together.
Lulutai has been under a lot of pressure from the Tongan public over the last 18 months, following technical problems to their aircrafts, affecting flights from Tongatapu to the outer islands of Ha’apai and Vava’u.
One of the company’s aircraft was grounded last year for three months for repairs and maintenance, with Fiji Airways stepping in to serve the domestic route.
Akosita and her husband, Etuate were jailed in 2021 for corruption and fraud connected with a school they ran.
Tonga MP Akosita Havili Lavulavu in Wellington for a mentoring programme by the Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians Pacific Region. Photo: VNP / Daniela Maoate-Cox
The Court of Appeal then ordered that the duo be retried in the Supreme Court.
Ahead of that retrial ‘Akosita Lavulavu had asserted Justice Langi would show bias because she had been working at the Attorney General’s office when the charges were first laid against the Lavulavu’s nearly six years ago.
Lavulavu was seeking leave to appeal after Justice Langi had declined an earlier application to recuse herself from presiding over the re-trial.
The Matangi Tonga website reports Justice Tony Randerson stating he had no hesitation in concluding that this appeal had no merit.
He said there is nothing to suggest the judge will not deal with the case fairly, objectively and in accordance with her judicial oath.
The Lavulavu’s were chargely over allegedly fraudulent claims for $US250,000 in government funding given to their private school, “Unuaki ‘O Tonga Royal Institute, to cover student transition.
The school had claimed in 2013 to have 255 eligible students when there were only six; in 2014 the school claimed for 416 students when there were only nine; and in 2015 they claimed for 271 students when there was only four eligible.
An ill-timed leg injury has done little to keep Bond University track sprinter Babe Antonio Vaitohi from his Olympic dream.
Tongan track sprinter Babe Antonio Vaitohi. Photo/Supplied
Next month the 100m and 200m flyer will compete in the Pacific Games in the Solomon Islands, which serves as an Olympic qualifier.
But the road to Honiara hasn’t been without drama.
Two months out from the biggest meet of his life, a small tear in his patella tendon disrupted his typically vigorous training schedule, preventing him from engaging in weight-bearing activities and, most crucially, running.
But Vaitohi and his Gold Coast-based coach Tony Fairweather remain confident in his ability to recover for the Pacific Games and keep intact his goal to represent Tonga at the world’s biggest sporting event in Paris in 2024.
“Regardless of this injury, I know that I’m going to do everything I can to get back to where I need to be,” he said defiantly.
And he’s had an intriguing sporting journey so far.
Vaitohi was born on the Pacific Island of Tonga and split his time between his home nation and New Zealand until the age of 12 when he moved to Australia and found his love for sprinting.
Bouncing between the two island nations as a child, Vaitohi’s path appeared to lie not in sprinting, but in the Pacific Island’s chief sporting passion of rugby, a sport that runs in his family’s blood.
“Actually, it was through rugby that I identified my potential in sprinting,” he said.
“My dad saw how fast I would run on the field and out of interest he encouraged me to give sprinting a try.
“I still play rugby here and there, but track is my main sport and my primary goal now.”
And so it was that at 13-years-old, just one year after taking up competitive sprinting, he claimed his first Australian championships in the junior 100m and 200m, besting competitors with years more experience.
The now 20-year-old is completing his Bachelor of Sport Management at Bond University with hopes to continue working within his chosen discipline.
The Pacific Games represent Vaitohi’s best chance of securing a Team Tonga tracksuit and of booking a ticket to Paris for the 2024 Olympics, despite the urgency of his injury recovery and the vagaries of selection.
“Qualifications work differently for some of the Pacific countries,” he explained.
“Due to the lack of funding and sports development in some of the Pacific nations it’s only the best athlete per country that gets sent.”
Vaitohi’s current 100m times range from 10.7 to 10.8 seconds, but at the Pacific Games, he aims to lower that mark considerably.
“With my ultimate goal of making the Olympics, I hope to achieve a time of 10.2 or faster,” he said.
“In my opinion there’s no greater achievement than representing your country at the Olympics and I’m going to give it everything I’ve got to make it happen.”
A senior Cook Islands official says she understands incoming prime minister Christopher Luxon’s decision to prioritise forming a government over attending the Pacific Islands Forum this week.
Christopher Luxon. Photo: RNZ / Nick Monro
Despite acknowledging the forum’s importance, Luxon has said he would stay in New Zealand “to make sure we get a strong, stable government” and has instead sent National foreign affairs spokesperson Gerry Brownlee to represent the incoming government.
Cook Islands secretary for foreign affairs and immigration Tepearu Hermann told RNZ Pacific leaders would understand.
“Of course we’d love to have every foreign leader here, but these are very busy people, who have to prioritise domestic considerations.”
University of Waikato law professor Al Gillespie said he believed Luxon’s absence was a mistake, and he could have taken the time out to attend and show New Zealand was sincere in its relationship.
“That face-to-face contact in the Pacific is very important. We’ve spent the last three years saying how important it is to make greater effort in the Pacific. And right now, taking a day or a day-and-a-half over a very busy agenda would be time well spent.”
Because the government has not been formed in time for the forum, New Zealand will be represented by outgoing deputy prime minister Carmel Sepuloni on behalf of the caretaker government, with Brownlee accompanying her.
Brownlee said it would not have been appropriate for Luxon to go along as an observer, but there was no question of the incoming government’s commitment to PIF and the Pacific.
“I think Mr Luxon himself was very disappointed not to be going, and he’s made that pretty clear to me. He has, however, in the last few months, met a number of Pacific leaders and would want to make that one of his early priorities for getting out around the world, to make clear that New Zealand sees the Pacific as a very big priority for us.”
While at PIF, Brownlee will attend a plenary meeting as well as conduct several bilateral meetings with representatives from forum countries or some of the other countries observing.
Sepuloni, meanwhile, will represent New Zealand at the Leaders’ Retreat. She is expected to endorse the implementation plan for the Forum’s 2050 Strategy for the Blue Pacific Continent, which addresses matters of climate, security, and prosperity.
She said both she and Brownlee had a shared agenda to ensure the relationship between New Zealand and the Pacific was strong.
“We’ll work together as much as possible. I’ll share as much information with him as I can. Certainly, we’re not making this a party, political thing. This is about New Zealand in the Pacific,” she said.
Sepuloni and Brownlee have attended PIF leaders’ meetings before, in the absence of a prime minister.
Brownlee represented New Zealand in 2017 during the election period, while Sepuloni attended a special retreat earlier this year while Chris Hipkins remained in New Zealand to focus on the response to Cyclone Gabrielle.
New Zealand is not the only country with a prime ministerial no-show at this year’s forum.
The leaders of Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea, and the Solomon Islands are all sending delegations in their stead.
Victoria University of Wellington politics and international relations senior lecturer Dr Iati Iati said Pacific leaders would be reasonable and understand New Zealand’s predicament.
“I think both Brownlee and Sepuloni will be good representatives. One represents the outgoing government, the other the incoming government.”
He said it would have been good to get some face-time with other leaders, but it was not the most important thing.
“The real essence of our relationship with the Pacific is determined by the substance of our foreign policy settings, and that happens in between the forum meetings. These are good for face-to-face relationship building, but the substance of the relationship is going to depend on New Zealand’s foreign policies towards the Pacific.”
The parties working to form a government would have their eyes on another major foreign event just around the corner.
The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit gets under way in San Francisco this weekend.
Luxon has said he would love to go to APEC, but again, the priority was forming a government.
RNZ asked Gerry Brownlee whether he would be keeping his suitcase packed.
“I wouldn’t speculate about that, it’s very early in the week yet. You never know where that might end up,” he said.
People from ‘Atatā who were made homeless by the Hungas eruption and tsunami have been ordered to move into tents at ‘Atatā Si’i just as the cyclone season has begun.
One of about more than a dozen tents set up at ‘Atatā Si’i. Photo/ Supplied
Tonga is expected to face three cyclones in the 2023-24 cyclone season, one of them severe.
Some of them told Kaniva News they were really concerned because the area to which they had been moved was prone to flooding and had recently been inundated.
The group of people had been living in a church hall for nearly two years in Kolomotu’a.
‘Atatā Si’i was the new village created for the ‘Atatā survivors. As we reported previously, 22 families from ‘Atatā moved into their new house in December 2022.
There had been no reports of Atatā people still living without new houses when the government opened and launched the new houses at ‘Atatā Si’i last year.
The people who had been living in the hall were told last week to move to ‘Atatā Si’i and live there in tents. They do not have bathrooms and toilets. They were told by the government to share the ‘Atatā Si’i’s residents’ bathrooms and toilets.
We contacted the Ministry for Infrastructure’s CEO, Lopeti Heimuli, for comment. He was asked to explain why these people were not given new houses.
He was also asked when the government was planning to build houses for these people.
He was also asked how long the people were expected to live in tents and share bathrooms with the residents of ‘Atatā Si’i.
Kaniva News spoke with some residents of ‘Atatā Si’i who said the arrival of the remaining ‘Atatāans made it difficult for those who were already settled in the new village.
The PTOA (Democrats) frontliners in New Zealand have blasted the government for its handling of the ‘Atatā survivors’ housing needs.
One frontliner, Sione ‘Eniketi Tāufa, said there were a lot of issues with the contracts for the building of the houses at ‘Atatā. These included the government’s failure to ensure the construction work ran smoothly.
Tevita Kātoa from the PTOA’s Aotearoa Chapter said he was concerned that millions of dollars had been donated to Tonga to assist the survivors of the eruption. This should have meant the new houses were all completed at the same time.
“The government should stop buying new aircraft and try to sort out these people’s housing needs first”, Kātoa said.
A father and his two sons have been convicted in the Supreme Court over an assault in October last year.
Kali Malupo. Photo/Supplied
Kali Malupo was convicted of grievous bodily harm and his sons, Sione and Siaosi Malupo were each convicted of common assault.
During a fight on October 31, 2022, Kali Malupo struck Filihai Li on the head with a machete, leaving an open wound.
Malupo was town officer for his village.
The incident began when Li, who was drunk, was standing in the road in Manuku, Tongatapu with his father, Melikiola. Kali, who was sitting in his vehicle, moved his vehicle towards Li, who then smashed a front headlight.
The Honourable Justice Cooper, presiding, said Kali left his vehicle and swung his machete at Li, hitting him on the third attempt. Li was unarmed and there was no evidence he ever had a weapon or that anybody thought he had one.
The judge said the injury to Li could have been worse if his father had not tackled Kali at the crucial moment.
“I accept Melikiola Li’s account that had he not done this, Filihai Li’s head would have been, in his words, split in two,” the judge said.
Sione and Siaosi Malupo joined the attack. The judge said the sons were not acting from any motive to protect their father or to defend their property.
“Their attacks, both in tandem, as they were and lasting as long as they did, revealed levels of anger and violence going far beyond and possible argument of self-defence,” the judge said.
“I am quite sure they continued to attack Filihai Li after he was grievously injured. This was strong evidence of their state of mind from the start; that they were determined upon violently dealing with Filihai Li for violence’s sake and did so.
“It was a sustained assault, punching with fists, starting before Filihai Li received his head injury and continuing after that when both defendants attacked the victim in his ‘api and at a time he was in desperate need of medical care.”
The judge said Malupo was not really remorseful. He denied that he attacked the victim chasing him down and he asserted the dishonest version of events that he was attacked in his car.
He said recommendations for probation and a discharge without conviction for the sons lacked all merit.
Kali Malupo was sentenced to seven years’ imprisonment, with the last two years suspended for two years on conditions.
Sione Malupo was sentenced to six months’ imprisonment, the last two months suspended for one year on conditions.
Siaosi Malupo was sentenced to six months’ imprisonment, the last two months suspended for 1 year on conditions.
Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu said Sunday that one of Israel’s options in the war against Hamas could be to drop a nuclear bomb on the Gaza Strip, in comments that were quickly disavowed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who also suspended the minister from cabinet meetings.
Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu
Eliyahu, a member of National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir’s far-right Otzma Yehudit (Jewish Power) party, was speaking in an answer to a question in a radio interview.
“Your expectation is that tomorrow morning we’d drop what amounts to some kind a nuclear bomb on all of Gaza, flattening them, eliminating everybody there…,” the Radio Kol Berama interviewer said.
“That’s one way,” Eliyahu responded. “The second way is to work out what’s important to them, what scares them, what deters them… They’re not scared of death.”
Eliyahu does not have any connection to the three-member war cabinet directing the war against the Hamas terror group, nor is he part of the broader security cabinet.
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When it was pointed out to the minister that there are some 240 hostages currently held in the Gaza Strip, Eliyahu doubled down.
“I pray and hope for their return, but there is a price to be paid in war,” he said. “Why are the lives of the abductees, whose release I really want, more important than the lives of the soldiers and the people who will be murdered later?”
Eliyahu also voiced objection to allowing any humanitarian aid into Gaza, saying, “we wouldn’t hand the Nazis humanitarian aid,” and charging that “there is no such thing as uninvolved civilians in Gaza.”
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Palestinians search through the rubble of a collapsed building looking for survivors following an apparent strike by the Israeli military on Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip on November 4, 2023 (Mahmud HAMS / AFP)
He also backed retaking the Strip and rebuilding the Israeli settlements that existed there before Israel withdrew from the area unilaterally in 2005, and when asked about the fate of the Palestinian population, he said: “They can go to Ireland or deserts; the monsters in Gaza should find a solution by themselves.”
Eliyahu also said the northern part of the Strip has no right to exist, adding that anyone waving a Palestinian or Hamas flag “shouldn’t continue to live on the face of the earth.
Netanyahu was quick to reject Eliyahu’s claim that dropping a nuclear bomb on the Gaza Strip was a possibility.
“Amichai Eliyahu’s words are detached from reality,” Netanyahu said in a statement. “Israel and the IDF are acting in accordance with the highest standards of international law in order to prevent harm to uninvolved people, and we will continue to do that all the way to victory.”
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant also condemned the “baseless and irresponsible” remarks in a post on X, adding he was glad “these are not the people in charge of Israel’s security.”
Opposition Leader Yair Lapid called on Netanyahu to fire Eliyahu, branding his comments “a horrifying and insane remark by an irresponsible minister.”
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“He offended the families of the captives [being held in Gaza], offended Israeli society and harmed our international standing,” Lapid said. “The presence of the extremists in the government endangers us and the success of the war goals — defeating Hamas and returning the hostages.
“Netanyahu must fire him this morning,” the opposition leader said.
Israelis attend a rally calling for the release of Israelis held kidnapped by Hamas terrorists in Gaza in Tel Aviv, November 4, 2023. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)
National Unity leader Minister Benny Gantz, a member of the war cabinet, also attacked Eliyahu’s comments.
“Eliyahu’s unnecessary and irresponsible statement is detrimental to the path and values of Israel, causes heavy political damage and, worst of all, adds to the pain of the families of those abducted from their homes,” he wrote on X, the social media site formerly known as Twitter.
MK Mansour Abbas, leader of the Arab Ra’am party, said that Eliyahu was echoing a sentiment expressed by other officials, and expressed concerns that his comments dehumanized Gazans.
“Eliyahu’s words about bombing Gaza with an atomic bomb were heard in different versions on the television screens from other people,” Abbas claimed on X.
“Dehumanization and collective punishment is the way to genocide and war crimes. There will be a day after the war — it is not the end of history and it is not Armageddon,” he wrote. “I am sure, and believe from the bottom of my heart, that there will still be peace and reconciliation between the two peoples.”
Amid the growing outrage, the Prime Minister’s Office announced that Eliyahu was suspended from cabinet meetings indefinitely. It was unclear if he would still be able to participate in phone votes.
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Government ministers told the Ynet news site that the suspension was meaningless.
“This is a joke, there barely are any cabinet meetings anyway, and most of the work is being done in rounds of votes by phone,” an unnamed minister was quoted as saying.
A cabinet meeting scheduled for Sunday has been canceled, with no alternative date set.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks at a press conference at the Defense Ministry in Tel Aviv, October 28, 2023. (Dana Kopel/POOL)
Eliyahu later attempted to walk back his assertion, tweeting that “it is clear to all sensible people that the statement about the atom is metaphorical.”
“However, a strong and disproportionate response to terrorism is definitely required, which will clarify to the Nazis and their supporters that terrorism doesn’t pay,” he wrote.
“This is the only formula that democratic states can use to deal with terrorism. At the same time, it is clear that the State of Israel is committed to doing everything possible to return the hostages safe and sound,” Eliyahu wrote.
The far-right minister has a history of incendiary and offensive comments.
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Earlier this year he called Bank of Israel governor Amir Yaron a “savage” and said he was causing damage to the State of Israel and should be fired, after Yaron raised the alarm about government’s controversial judicial overhaul program.
In April he accused top security officials of “rebelling” against the coalition.
Eliyahu is the scion of a prominent national-religious family — the grandson of Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu, a former chief Sephardic rabbi of Israel, and the son of Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu, the rabbi of the northern city of Safed and a leading far-right ideologue.
Eliyahu’s father has been known for controversial statements and rulings on Jewish law, including one that forbade the rental or sale of Jewish-owned property in Safed to Arabs. He has also criticized the Reform movement, the LGBTQ community, and women serving in IDF combat units.
Meanwhile, far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich asserted Saturday that Israel “will control Gaza after the war.”
“I will not invest a shekel in shielding the Gaza border area,” said Smotrich, implying that it will not be necessary after the conclusion of the war.
“The most important thing is that there will be no more Hamas, that the Strip will be under the operational control of the IDF for years, and that we will not return to the same misconceptions,” he told Channel 12. “We will be there, we will rule there and we will maintain security.”
Finance Minister and Head of the Religious Zionist Party Bezalel Smotrich leads a faction meeting at the Knesset, the Israeli parliament in Jerusalem, October 23, 2023. (Oren Ben Hakoon/Flash90)
Israel launched its war against Hamas after the terror group carried out a brutal assault on southern Israel communities, killing some 1,400 people, mostly civilians, and taking over 240 hostages, including small children and the elderly.
In response to the killings, Israel vowed to eradicate the terror group and has since hit thousands of Hamas targets inside the Strip with airstrikes and an ongoing ground operation, saying that it is working to minimize civilian casualties in Gaza.
The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza said Saturday that more than 9,400 Palestinians have been killed since Hamas sparked war with its murderous assault. Hamas figures cannot be independently confirmed, and the terror group has been accused of artificially inflating the death toll. The figures do not differentiate between terror operatives and civilians nor between those killed in Israeli strikes and those killed by the hundreds of rockets fired by terror groups that have fallen short inside the Strip.
An estimated 800,000 Palestinians have fled to the south from Gaza City and other northern areas following repeated Israeli calls to evacuate, but hundreds of thousands remain in the north, including many who left and later returned. Israel is also carrying out some airstrikes in the south.
By Caleb Fotheringham, RNZ Pacific Journalist, and is republished with permission
A drought has been declared for Tonga’s main island Tongatapu as well as the nearby island of ‘Eua, and authorities have put out warnings and alerts for other islands.
Aerial view of Tongatapu. Photo: Expedia
The climate pattern El Niño was officially declared in September by Tonga’s Meteorological Services, that will mean warmer temperatures, less rainfall, and more cyclones for the nation.
Metservice deputy director Laitia Fifita said the drought is not expected to ease anytime soon.
“Looking towards the next three months for the Tonga group it’s still expected that this trend will continue to have below average precipitation or rain fall for our island divisions here in Tonga,” Fifita said.
During El Niño in 2015 and 2016, below average rainfall was also recorded, he said.
However, it is expected that there will still be some periods of rain from time to time.
“When we say drought, the general perspective is that it will be completely dry, there will never be a single drop of rain but there will be rain over time but the amount of rain that will fall will still be below average.”
RNZ’s Tonga correspondent Kalafi Moala said the current drought is the worst he has seen.
“Over the last 10-years that I have been living mostly in Tonga we have not come across a drought situation like this, so there’s been all kinds of cautions, ‘save water’ and ‘have wise use of water’, so this is quite unique,” Moala said.
He said the government plans to convert seawater into drinking water in the outer islands.
“Prime Minister Hu’akavameiliku said on Friday that the drought season is a pressing issue, especially for the outer islands.
“The government’s main concern is to provide sufficient water resources for the outer islands”
Crop concerns
Vanilla manufacturing and marketing business, Heilala Vanilla based in Tauranga New Zealand, is supplied beans from Tonga.
Chief executive Jennifer Boggiss has heard from farmers that it has been dry for about two months.
“Right now is pollination time so the plants are flowering, and then they’re hand pollinated,” Boggiss said.
“But in a situation where you’ve got a drought basically, the beans don’t grow, they fall off the plant and if the plants are under stress all the beans don’t mature, so you don’t get a crop,” she said.
“It’s not just going to be vanilla; it’ll be all crops and probably the biggest concern is food supply over the coming months with farmers relying on growing their own crops and also selling on the local market.
“That’s probably the biggest concern from a community perspective,” she added.
Three Tongan men jointly charged with the murder of south Auckland-based Tongan woman Meliame Fisi’ihoi are back in court after a year of the murder case being aborted “due to a range of issues”.
Meliame Fisi’ihoi. Photo/Facebook
The hearing, before High Court judge Justice Grant Powell and a jury has been set down for six weeks and is due to hear evidence from over 80 witnesses.
Brothers Viliami and Falala’anga Momooni Iongi, together with their cousin Manu Iongi, are jointly charged with murdering Meliame Fisi’ihoi in January 2020, Stuff reported.
Viliami and Falala’anga Iongi are also charged with another shooting a month earlier, that left a man with serious injuries to his abdomen.
The report said, the three have pleaded not guilty to all charges and are on trial at the High Court in Auckland.
In her opening address on Monday, the Crown prosecutor Natalie Walker said some of Fisi’ihoi’s neighbours heard knocking in the direction of her house. Another heard someone calling out “are you home” before a single gunshot rang out.
Another neighbour heard two sets of footsteps running down the road before two car doors opened and closed, and a car drive off at speed.
Walker said the police were called and two officers armed themselves and approached the house.
They could see a hole the size of a cricket ball in the front window and traces of blood on the broken glass.
One officer peered in the curtained window and could see an arm resting on the sofa. Despite making a lot of noise and calling out, there was no response.
Walker said the officers went in through the back door, calling out as they did so, but again, there was no response.
Inside the living room they found Meliame Fisi’ihoi lying face down on the sofa. She had died from a single shotgun wound to her head at close range.
Walker said the officers found two other people in the house – Meliame Fisi’ihoi’s husband of 31 years and her father. But both men slept through the shooting and only woke when police were inside the house.
Police investigations found the mother of five had a good relationship with her friends, work colleagues and family. Meliame Fisi’ihoi would sometimes sleep in the lounge if she was watching television late at night.
Only one of her five children “caused the family concern”. Her eldest son, Stephen, lived in a portable cabin on the front lawn but had not been home on the night his mother was killed.
But six weeks prior to the Meliame Fisi’ihoi death, there had been another shooting.
Walker said Stephen Fisi’ihoi had been involved in sourcing a shotgun for Falala Iongi in exchange for 3.5g of methamphetamine.
Walker said Stephen Fisi’ihoi was handed the meth and returned with a double barrel shotgun. But Falala Iongi was not happy with the deal and wanted his meth back. Stephen Fisi’ihoi said that wouldn’t be possible.
Walker said the deal had caused bad blood. Stephen Fisi’ihoi sent a threatening video on social media. Days later Falala and his brother Viliami turned up to his cabin.
Stephen Fisi’ihoi was home with two friends, one of whom was Siaosi “George” Vuna. Walker said Vuna tried to reason with the Iongi brothers and offered to settle his friend’s debt but Viliami Iongi emerged with a shotgun.
Walker said Viliami Iongi fired a shot at Vuna who decided to charge towards the gunman. Viliami shot him in the abdomen and groin area, leaving Vuna requiring surgery.
Detectives managed to match the shotgun shells from the earlier shooting to the later killing of Meliame Fisi’ihoi. The shell brand, wadding and the pellet sizes all matched.
Walker said detectives were also later able to track the movements of Falala Iongi’s distinctive black BMW with a faulty indicator as it made its way into and out of the Māngere area at the time of Meliame Fisi’ihoi’s death.
And then a close family member came forward. Walker said the man was visited by the Iongis on the night Meliame Fisi’ihoi was killed.
Walker said the family member, who has been granted immunity from prosecution by the Solicitor General, will tell the court the three men turned up and asked him to hold on to a gun but “to watch out as it was hot”.
The man hid the shotgun in the ceiling of his home before it was collected the following day.
Walker said while Crown’s case was circumstantial, taken together the evidence was strong.
Lawyers for the defendants each gave a brief opening.
Falala Iongi’s lawyer Baden Meyer described the Crown’s case as a “good story” but said his client denies all the charges. He encouraged the jurors to consider all the evidence carefully and with an open mind.
Viliami Iongi’s lawyer, Claire Farquhar, said the trial was “quite complex” and there was a lot of evidence to come but none of it included eyewitness or CCTV evidence of the shooting of Meliame Fisi’ihoi.
Manu Iongi’s lawyer, Katie Hogan, reminded the jurors that the only witness who put her client anywhere near the shooting was a man who had reasons to lie and implicate others.
The trial, before Justice Grant Powell and a jury, has been set down for six weeks and is due to hear evidence from over 80 witnesses.
