This story appeared on TVNZ and is republished with permission
The theme for Tongan Language Week this year is Fakakoloa ‘o Aotearoa ‘aki ‘a e lotu mo’oni – a Tongan perspective of enriching Aotearoa spiritually.
Covid-19 has restricted lotu, or church services, in New Zealand. But as Tagata Pasifika’s John Pulu reports, lotu mo’oni is shining through church groups, who are continuing to serve their community during these challenging times.
During the second lockdown, a group of volunteers from Siaola, a branch of the Vahefonua Tongan Methodist Church in New Zealand, have delivered food and masks and paid the utility bills of more than 4000 families.
The organisation has been running for 14 years, helping in areas like education, employment, health and support through faith.
With more families seeking help and advice amid the Covid-19 outbreak, Siaola has received much needed funding from the Government, and has helped unite other congregations in their work.
“There are organisations that can help families who are experiencing hardship, so reach out,” says social worker Iunisi ‘Efoti.
“The reason why we do this work, and it’s the same for the whole team, is because we care about our people that we serve, we have skills we want to use to help our church and make use of them to help our families and communities,” says Kathleen.
The Siasi Metotisi Lotofale’ia church in Māngere, South Auckland has also been used as a pop-up Covid-19 testing station for the community.
Tonga’s former head of Revenue and Customs, ‘Anisi Bloomfield, has been refused permission by the Supreme Court to appeal against an extradition order.
Bloomfield has been charged by the Attorney General of Fiji with offences concerning general dishonesty and theft alleged to have been committed in Fiji between 2011 and 2014 when he was acting head of the Oceania Customs Organisation.
The Attorney General sought the extradite of Bloomfield to Fiji to stand trial on those charges.
On October 30, 2019, the Prime Minister issued an ‘authority to proceed’ with the extradition proceedings.
On 22 November 22, 2019, Bloomfield was arrested pursuant to a warrant issued by the Chief Magistrate.
On February 17, 2020, the Principal Magistrate decided that Bloomfield was to be returned to Fiji to stand trial only on the charge of theft and that the charge of general dishonesty could not be proceeded with because the alleged offence was committed during a period in which Bloomfield was accorded diplomatic immunity by the Government of Fiji.
On March 9, 2020, the Attorney General filed a notice of appeal against the Principal Magistrate’s decision refusing Bloomfield’s extradition on the general dishonesty offence.
Bloomfield filed an application for a writ of habeas corpus so that he could be released from the order of the Magistrate’s Court to be committed for extradition to Fiji on the theft charge.
On June 9, 2020, Supreme Court Justice Niu upheld the Crown’s appeal and dismissed Bloomfield’s application for habeas corpus. His Honour ordered that Bloomfield be committed to be returned to Fiji to be tried on both offences.
On July 15, 2020, Justice Niu granted Bloomfield bail on the same terms and conditions granted to him on March 5, 2020 although altered in relation to reporting requirements.
Bloomfield based his appeal on a recent letter from Prime Minister Pōhiva Tu’ionetoa dated July 1 this year revoking his earlier order to proceed with the extradition.
The Crown said that on July 20 Hon. Tu’ionetoa issued a separate letter to the Attorney General in which he effectively revoked his letter of July 1.
In his second letter the Prime Minister wrote: “I, Dr. Pohiva Tu ‘ionetoa the Prime Minister of Tonga declare in this notice that I have revoked my letter of revocation dated I July 2020 pursuant the revocation of ‘authority to proceed with the order’ under s. 7(1) of the Extradition Act executed on October 30, 2019.”
Following extensive consideration of aspects of the laws relating to extradition, Lord Chief Justice Whitten said the prospects of success of the appeal were insufficient to warrant leave being granted.
The application for leave to appeal was therefore refused.
The Tongan government’s decision to raise the school leaving age to 18 is welcome.
The Ministry wants a higher standard of education for every student and having every student stay at school will help, especially as we face the prospect of a post-Covid 19 world that may be very different from the one we live in now.
However, the kingdom faces a number of problems around education. It is clear that the Ministry cannot be expected to manage everything on its own and that parents and students must also contribute.
The Ministry’s actions come in the wake of the release of a new UNESCO report, Education in a post-COVID world: Nine ideas for public action.
“Education needs to be at the heart of a post-Covid world,” the report says.
“For that future we need boldness of thought and courageous action now.”
Among its suggestions, the report urges governments to strengthen education as a common good, arguing that education is a strong weapon in fighting inequality.
It said education systems around the world had been best able to respond to the Covid-9 pandemic when there were strong ties with families and communities.
It also said students should also be encouraged to take part in decisions about education.
As we shall see, these are all issues that come into focus when looking at the Education Ministry’s announcement and some of the problems confronting education in Tonga.
Academic talent
Tonga has a formidable reservoir of academic talent.
The kingdom has a reputation for having more PhDs per head of population than any other country on earth.
Every story we have written about a successful Tongan doctoral student shows the same key elements: A student’s willingness to study and apply themselves, whether in high school or at university, a clear goal and strong inspiration and support from their parents and family.
This does not mean that every student can or should do a doctorate, but it does mean that students should be encouraged to choose the best path, whether in science, the arts, business or vocational studies and realise that in many ways the future of Tonga will depend on their educational achievements. Their families and their community must stand behind them.
Obstacles
Unfortunately, there are a number of obstacles standing in the way of the Ministry’s vision of a higher standard of education for everybody.
One obstacle is made up of parents who refuse to abide by the law.
As the Education Ministry’s Truancy and Reconciliation Division leader Kalafitoni Latu said this week, the department is being challenged by parents who refuse to take their children to school and claiming that their children receive their education at home.
There is also an unacceptably high number of students skipping school. If they are absent for more than three days a notice is sent to their to parents and guardians.
The reasons for their truancy also need to be addressed. These can range from a lack of support from parents who may be poorly educated themselves, thinking that girls should not be educated, or thinking that their children should give up school to help on the farm.
The Education Ministry and schools must find ways to reach out to these parents and change their attitudes.
Student success has been a headache for the Ministry. In January we reported that the department was concerned by a 10% drop in the pass rate for the Form Six certificate.
The Ministry has also been worried by falling enrolment in high school science, mathematics and commerce classes.
Their concerns were echoed in February by Dr Sangata Kaufononga, the first Tongan to obtain a PhD in Chemistry. Dr Kaufanonga said if students had the potential to make a career in science, technology, engineering or maths (STEM), they should go for it.
She urged the Ministry to investigate what could be done to promote the interest of the students in the subject.
She cited her father as an inspiration and her family for their support in her studies.
“Further education was always a priority to me as it was the golden key to unlock future opportunities for my family,” she said.
In its vision for the future, UNESCO has also called for greater scientific literacy in school curricula as a way to fight misinformation and struggle against the denial of scientific knowledge about the Covid-19 pandemic.
One critical issue that has to be addressed is the continuing problem with school violence. Many times these problems seem to occur because students – and in some cases staff – cling on to what are often ancient and frankly pointless rivalries.
In 2013 school violence escalated to a point where 147 current and former students of Tupou College, and a teacher from the college, appeared in court over attacks on Tonga College students.
The then police commissioner, Grant O’Fee, said Tonga needed to ask why school boys were acting like out of control gang members.
Sadly, seven years later conflicts between school remain a serious problem in Tonga. Earlier this year in the Supreme Court Lord Chief Justice Whitten sent a school boy to jail for a year for his role in an attack on Tupou College students.
Education is the key to the future of Tonga in many respects. Smarter, better educated students who have the skills to do well in the sciences, the arts, business studies or the vocational field will be important to the kingdom’s progress.
Setting the school leaving age at 18 is a good step along the road to its goal of giving every pupil the chance at a better education. Now the Ministry needs the support of parents, communities and students to make that vision a reality.
“Tonga does not interfere in other nations’ own affairs.”
That was the carefully measured response from Prime Minister Pōhiva Tu’i’onetoa to yesterday’s report that senior officials from Australia’s Foreign Affairs Department are investigating the concept of a “grand compact” with some small Pacific nations, including Tonga.
The suggestion on a compact is seen in some circles as a way of curbing the growth of Chinese power in the region.
Under the proposal Australia would allow permanent residency or even citizenship for people from Kiribati, Tuvalu, Tonga and Nauru in return for Australia managing their resources.
A number of independent Pacific island states are already in compacts of free associations with larger countries. In Micronesia, Palau, the Federated States of Micronesia and the Republic of the Marshall Islands have a Compact of Free Association with the United States.
The governments of these nations consult with the US on foreign affairs issues. Washington also has “full authority and responsibility for security and defence matters” in return for US government services, the opportunity for Pacific Islanders to work in the US and annual grants.
The Cook Islands and Niue are self-governing states in free association with New Zealand, which is responsible for their foreign affairs and defence.
The proposal for an Australian has been floated in different forms over recent years and has met with a mixed response.
As we reported yesterday, former Tuvaluan Prime Minister Enele Sopoaga described it as outdated “imperial thinking.”
Prime Minister Pōhiva Tu’i’onetoa told Kaniva news today: “Tonga is friends with every country in the world.”
“It does not oppose any country.
“That was a traditional position of Tonga in terms of international diplomatic relations. Tonga does not interfere in other nations’ own affairs.”
Tonga is the only Pacific nation not to have been colonised. As a series of historical features in Kaniva news earlier this year showed, the country’s rulers fought hard to keep from being overwhelmed by Britain’s offers of friendship.
However, not all politicians from the countries listed as possible compact partners have rejected it.
Kiribati’s former President Anote Tong said the proposal would be difficult for small island countries to turn down.
But he warned that the proposal would only work if Islanders did not see it as an attempt to re-colonise their the countries.
The main points
“Tonga does not interfere in other nations’ own affairs.”
That was the carefully measured response from Prime Minister Pōhiva Tu’i’onetoa to yesterday’s report that senior officials from Australia’s Foreign Affairs Department are investigating the concept of a “grand compact” with some small Pacific nations, including Tonga.
Former Pacific Community chief now health academic Dr Collin Tukuitonga … “Even if this pandemic settles down it doesn’t protect us from something else coming along.” Image: SPC
Six years on from being appointed head of the Pacific Community, Director-General Collin Tukuitonga, a boy born on the tiny Pacific island of Niue, has a voice louder than a schoolboy rugby captain, a voice that serves him well as a Pasifika community leader.
There is little doubt his credentials are impressive for a boy who attended Niue High School and then the University of the South Pacific for foundation years 1 and 2 before arriving in New Zealand from Fiji after the 1987 coup.
Having done his New Zealand Medical Registration exams, he began to excel in the fields he chose.
And excel he did, as his curriculum vitae reads: Director of SPC’s Public Health Division; Chief Executive Officer of the NZ Ministry of Pacific Island Affairs; Associate Professor of Public Health and Head of Pacific and International Health at the University of Auckland; Director of Public Health, NZ Ministry of Health; and Head of Surveillance and Prevention of Chronic Non-Communicable Diseases at the World Health Organisation, Switzerland.
He scoffs at the description of a little boy from Niue who has made it big in the Anglo-Saxon, neoliberal, covid-19 world of today.
“I don’t know about making it big, but it has been definitely different and professionally rewarding, and hopefully I’m making a useful contribution to the community,” he laughs heartily in the Pacific way.
But his contribution to all aspects of leadership in medicine and public service cannot be taken lightly.
‘No holds barred’
As Fijian Dr Api Talemaitoga, a GP in South Auckland and chair of the Pasifika GP Network who is also part of the Health Ministry’s Pasifika response and who worked with Tukuitonga during the H1N1 flu epidemic in 2009, says:
“He is great because he tells you like it is, no holds barred, no sugar coating the truth,” he says of Dr Tukuitonga.
The fact that Dr Tukuitonga spoke out during the current pandemic crisis, calling for a new public health agency is evidence enough of this.
“Sars and H1N1 were epidemics but covid-19 is a much bigger threat. We can be certain there will be viruses like this in the future,” says Dr Tukuitonga.
“Even if this pandemic settles down it doesn’t protect us from something else coming along. So, it’s always going be a risk for communities right around the world.”
However, while he credits establishing Pacific public health services in West Auckland and the poorer Māori communities in Northland (Ngati Hine and the Hokianga) as deeply satisfying, it is his work as director-general of the Pacific Community (SPC) based in Noumea, New Caledonia, that is the cream of his public service to the Pacific.
But it was fraught with difficulties, which he found a surprise.
Fragile unity in the Pacific
“Being appointed Director-General of the Pacific Community (SPC) and running that organisation for six years was a highlight in my life,” he says.
Dr Collin Tukuitonga’s Twitter feed header … running the Pacific Community for six years has been a highlight. Image: CT Twitter
But, “I learnt just how fragile unity is in the Pacific,” he says this with surprise.
“People talk about regionalism in the Pacific all the time and it is something people seek and desire but that actually is very difficult, elusive and fragile.
“Pacific regionalism and Pacific solidarity come with conditions, there is quite a level of distrust that exists and that’s holding back so many developments,” he says.
“But there are some good things going on – their collective approach to climate change has been impressive.
“Leading up to the 2015 Paris Agreement 2015 globally, nobody gave the Pacific a chance, but they banded together, and influenced some big players and got a good outcome in the form of the Paris agreement.
“The voices of the small Pacific Islands were heard at a global level that wasn’t because of chance. It came from the work of the Pacific Island leaders in communicating their concerns about climate change to the rest of the world,” he says.
An award-winning poster, based on the famous “liberty” painting, at the World Wildlife Fund at the 2015 Paris Agreement summit. Image: WWF
Trying to push the polluters
“They were trying to push the polluters of the world to take responsibility for some of the things they had done.”
He praised the work done by Pacific leaders at a time when disunity could have been damaging.
“I do think they have done a tremendous job on climate change so that is an illustration of the Island nations having one enemy in common. Otherwise working together on regional issues is not so straight forward.
But it was considered better in the nation of his origins, he says.
“Niue is fortunate in the sense that if you talk about sea-level rise it is not an really an issue for Niue, but in term of the parts of climate change like killing coral and ocean acidification leading to coral bleaching they do affect Niue.
“They also feel the impacts of severe weather events like severe cyclones like everyone else around the Pacific.
“It is fortunate in that it is a high island and they don’t suffer from the sea-level rise parts but clearly they are vulnerable as everyone else with regards to climate change effects,” he says pensively.
Tokelau also at risk
However, Tokelau, as well as Kiribati, is also at a risk, says Dr Talemaitoga,
“When I visited there several years ago, the king tides were really something to see, the effects of climate change were starting to affect them then,” he says.
As for the heavy polluters, Dr Tukuitonga has a slightly different take on those countries,
“The Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) is in fact one of the important parts of the Paris agreement.
“That is why we spent quite a lot of time setting up the office in Suva to allow and enable the members to rethink and develop and introduce meaningful contributions
“So, I see it as a very important part of the implementation of the Paris agreement. But, like a lot of things, some countries take it seriously and some don’t,” he says.
Dr Collin Tukuitonga …. The impacts of covid-19 on climate change? “In a sense, covid-19 is an aggravation because it would introduce health risks, limit movement of people and their ability to do things, such as their ability to try to mitigate and adapt to climate change.” Image: SPC
And the impacts of covid-19 on climate change?
Covid-19 ‘an aggravation’
“In a sense, covid-19 is an aggravation because it would introduce health risks, limit movement of people and their ability to do things, such as their ability to try to mitigate and adapt to climate change.
“I see covid-19 as an additional challenge for the small islands to face on of top climate change,” he says.
The Pacific environment will also be vulnerable to climate change he believes.
Coupled by pollution and various other practices such as overfishing and over-consumption has had an effect, he says.
“The combination of climate change, pollution, population growth, and the exploitation of the environment is a serious threat to the sustainability of the Pacific environment,” he expounds.
“There is a very strong drive to build more hotels in pristine places around the region because the drive for economic development is relentless and that leads to the destruction of our natural environment, so I do think it is a serious concern,” he says about the proliferation of tourist hotels in the region.
“The Pacific Ocean is increasingly polluted by actually pollution from outside the region but also the sea life is being threatened with overfishing and with ocean acidification as a result of that overfishing.
Pollution getting worse
“It will get worse; it has started already. That’s why the UN sustainable development goals are really important because one of those is dedicated to the protection of the health of the ocean.
“It’s already underway and I think we clearly need to do more within the context of climate change to protect and promote the environment around the region.
The same care should be taken when it comes to wildlife in the region.
“Sustaining wildlife goes hand-in-hand with environmental degradation so whatever we do to promote and protect biodiversity should, in fact, look to protecting the few species of wildlife that we have,” he says.
“Most of the small atoll nations in the world have very limited diversity, except the Pacific Ocean is one of the world’s largest ecosystems with quite a lot of biodiversity, some of which we don’t know about yet,” Dr Tukuitonga says.
“I have always been a fan of ecotourism and for travellers who spend a bit more money than the average person. I have never been a fan of bums on seats tourism and especially to little places. Ecotourism is a very important part of development landscape in the region,” he says.
He for one warned against the complacency that has taken hold in the Pacific with regards to covid-19. As a public health specialist, he notices how lax the testing had become in June and warned against that practice publicly.
Complacency factor
“I would have thought testing should have continued in earnest, without a doubt I think complacency is a factor and we should have done more testing,” he says in a few words.
After being 102 days covid-19 free in New Zealand, he used to be keen on the travel bubble to the covid free islands – but no longer.
“I was a keen promoter of that idea, but I would suggest to them right away not to pursue this. I would say to stop it.
“The problem is we don’t know quite what the spread is like in New Zealand and people could go to the Cooks or Niue integrating the virus there, so even if you test for it before going there’s not a guarantee that people with the virus are travelling to the destination so I would discourage it.”
And he has a passion outside his “norm of life”, a heartfelt one at that too.
“I’m very concerned about the Niue language because it is one of the realm languages that is in dire straits because very few Niueans speak it now and there is a very real chance that it will disappear completely.
“I’m part of a community effort to try to revitalise the language to have the young ones to speak the language.
Good health numbers
“It isn’t so bad around Fiji, Samoa, Tonga because there are good healthy numbers still living in those islands but the Cooks, Niue and Tokelau where the majority population are in New Zealand they don’t speak their first language it’s a real concern.
“I believe that absolutely that it is likely to affect their cultural behaviour because language is such a central and critical part of the culture and so while you can participate in your culture without speaking the language it is not the same as being able to speak the language which allow you to participate more fully,” he says.
“So, remember each generation of Cook Islanders and Niueans born in New Zealand would be further and further away from their culture so it is going to be a challenge to maintain,”
And that is likely to bring its own problems as Tonga found out recently.
“People feel disconnected from their social norms and traditional values, family connections are disturbed and of course that is almost an inevitable consequence that young people in particular would turn to drugs and crime. That is why I see languages as a protective element for our people,” he says with conviction.
He admits to being annoyed at not winning the World Health Organisation (WHO) regional director post for the Western Pacific last year when several Pacific nations showed themselves to be at the whim of foreign currencies.
“Only because I felt I had much to offer the Islands, also the Islands have never had a Pacific person in that leadership role, but life has moved on.”
Now the associate dean Pacific and associate professor at the University of Auckland, Dr Tukuitonga has been seconded to the Auckland Regional Public Health Service (ARPHS) one day a week and the service does the covid-19 contact tracing.
“I am happy to come back home and get involved in this. It’s good because it gives me a lot of freedom to explore the things that matter and I’m enjoying it.”
This is the fourth of a series of articles by the Pacific Media Centre’s Pacific Media Watch as part of an environmental project funded by the Internews’ Earth Journalism Network (EJN) Asia-Pacific initiative.
Minister for Labour and Economic Development Samiu Vaipulu said today Neiafu Town Officer Vava Lapota should put aside his political beliefs and work with him.
Hon. Vaupulu was responding to Kaniva news’ report yesterday of claims by Lapota that he had been intimated and threatened at a meeting with constituents in Vava’u last week.
The Minister also denied that residents were upset that a meeting had been cancelled and said constituency needs came ahead of what Lapota and his town council wanted.
However, he did not deny Lapota’s claims that he had been intimidated and threatened.
When asked yesterday what he thought may have caused the incident at the meeting, Lapota said it may have been because of their political differences.
The Town officer is regarded as a staunch supporter of the PTOA Party (Democrats).
Hon. Vaipulu told Kaniva news Lapota should co-operate with him “for the benefit of the people of the country.”
“I warned the Town Officer because he said we cannot work together, but he wanted me to listen to him, but I believed that was wrong,” the Minister said.
“For him to come and tell me to work with him according to his political beliefs was wrong.”
Hon. Vaipulu said Lapota and his town officers’ council wanted a share from the constituency funding, but he had to do what the constituents wanted. The constituents’ needs included women wanting to build pigsties for them.
The Town Officer said he had received complaints from ‘Alo’italau, a block in Talau district, about the cancellation of a Parliamentary meeting.
The Minister said Faleleu and Talau residents marked the start of construction of an evacuation and weaving centre last week.
“The kāinga were happy and told me that was enough and they did not need the Parliamentary meeting as the centre was more important and that was what they needed,” Hon. Vaipulu said.
“There were no complaints and if the Town Officer claimed there were complaints he should have given me the names of those people so I could look at it”
Lapota hit back
Now Lapota has hit back with fresh allegations, saying that during last week’s meeting he questioned the Minister about funding for Neiafu district wardens.
He said the Minister told him to work together with him but he replied and told Hon Vaipulu “I am waiting for you.”
He also said the ‘Alo’italau residents continued complaining to him this week after the Parliamentary meeting was cancelled.
He said the Minister told him that the governor wanted wardens established to police Neiafu district including Makave, Neiafu, Fungamisi, Falaleu and Utui, but that he (Lapota) had not agreed.
“I told Vaipulu the governor was right,” Lapota said.
“I did not want to set up warden services for Neiafu because there was no funding. The money was used to purchase tractors for the district.”
He claimed that Hon. Vaipulu had met the Toula and Makave residents and discussed setting up warden services without him or the rest of the town officers of the constituency knowing about it.
Lapota raised this with Hon. Vaipulu.
“This provoked Vaipulu to become angry with me during the meeting.”
The main points
Minister for Labour and Economic Development Samiu Vaipulu said today Neiafu Town Officer Vava Lapota should put aside his political beliefs and work with him.
Vaupulu was responding to Kaniva news’ report yesterday of claims by Lapota that he had been intimated and threatened at a meeting with constituents in Vava’u last week.
Senior officials from Australia’s Foreign Affairs Department have admitted they are investigating the concept of a “grand compact” with some small Pacific nations, including Tonga.
The idea has been pushed some Australian politicians, academics and officials for decades.
It is seen in some circles as a way of curbing the growth of Chinese power in the region.
One of the suggestions is that Australia could allow permanent residency or even citizenship for people from Kiribati, Tuvalu, Tonga and Nauru in return for Australia managing their vast, and valuable, exclusive economic zones.
Former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd put forward a similar proposal which was attacked by Tuvalu’s then Prime Minister leader, Enele Sopoaga as “imperial thinking.”
“The days of that type of imperial thinking are over,” Mr Sopoaga told the ABC.
Both New Zealand and the United States have compacts with some Pacific island states.
However, the ABC’s Pacific Beatsaid there was no sign that the Australian government was currently seriously contemplating the idea or has plans to take a proposal to Pacific governments.
North Queensland Toyota Cowboys lock Jason Taumalolo is expected to miss this Saturday night’s clash with the Dragons in Townsville.
As Kaniva news reported earlier the Tongan international was expected to be off for four weeks after tearing a calf muscle during a game against Newcastle last Sunday afternoon.
In June he missed a game with Cronulla at Queensland Country Bank Stadium due to bone bruising on his knee.
Tongan High School students will now stay at school until they are 18.
The Education Act 2013 has been updated to reflect the new school age, which is now 4-18. The new law came into effect on Tuesday.
The Education Department’s Truancy & Reconciliation Division Leader Kalafitoni Latu told Radio Tonga the compulsory leaving age was meant to help all students get a better education.
He said the Ministry would push children who are of legal age, to attend school in accordance to the law.
Uhatahi Tu’amoheloa, who manages the grassroots Just Play project in Tonga, has described online mentoring by the English Football association as a blessing.
Two of the FA’s leading coaches, Head of Grassroots Delivery, Les Howie and Coach Mentor Officer, Steve Smithies are providing virtual mentoring to Pacific players in Tonga, Fiji and Samoa.
“This is like a new era for us having the FA running mentoring sessions,” Tu’amoheloa said.
“Our participants at the first session were mainly volunteers from Just Play, but at the second session our national team coaches were also on board,” she said.
Repatriation flights from Fiji and Kiribati arrived in Tonga this week.
Health Minister ʻAmelia Afuhaʻamango Tuʻipulotu told Radio Tonga the repatriation flight from Fiji would be the last.
The flight from Kiribati was chartered flight by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and brought back seven passengers and a body.
Flights from Auckland remain in limbo because of the re-appearance of community transmission of Covid-19 in the community.
Neiafu Town Officer Vāvā Lapota claims that Minister for Labour and Economic Development Samiu Vaipulu tried to intimidate him during a Parliamentary meeting with constituents in Vava’u last week.
Kaniva news has contacted Hon. Vaipulu and the Parliamentary Chief Clerk for comment and for the Minister to give his side of the story.
The Town Officer told Kaniva news he was baffled by Hon. Vaipulu’s actions and asked him to explain what laws he had broken.
He said Hon.Vaipulu did not reply.
Lapota claimed the Minister was angry with him during the meeting at Fakamelino Hall in Neiafu.
When asked what he thought may have caused the incident, Lapota said it may be because of their political differences.
The Town officer is regarded as a staunch supporter of the PTOA Party (Democrats).
Lapota said he had been threatened during the meeting and claimed that he had been told he was being given a final warning.
He said he thought the Minister believed he was trying to politicise the meeting when he asked for a clarification about the constituency’s town warden funding.
However, he said this was not true.
He said he had told the Minister they should put their political beliefs aside and work for the good of the constituency.
He said that in the past he had put aside his political differences with Hon. Vaipulu to support him in a personal dispute.
Lapota said he had been told to leave a previous meeting in Halalele after he directed serious questions at the Minister.
“I am the only one who could direct serious questions at him when he was holding meeting here including asking him to explain how our parliamentary constituency funding is being used and allocated,” Lapota said.
“I also demanded he give answers regarding allegations about him being raised in news media.”
Cancelled
Meanwhile, the Town Officer said he had received complaints from the residents of the ‘Alo’italau block after their Parliamentary meeting was cancelled.
Lapota said the locals were looking forward to meet with Hon. Vaipulu last week.
He said there was confusion after the government apparently scheduled meetings at the same time as meetings with constituents.
The main points
Neiafu Town Officer Vava Lapota claims that Minister for Labour and Economic Development Samiu Vaipulu tried to intimidate him during a Parliamentary meeting with constituents in Vava’u last week.
Kaniva news has contacted Hon Vaipulu and the Parliamentary Chief Clerk for comment.
Lord Fusitu’a is still in New Zealand, according to unconfirmed reports.
Kaniva news has contacted the Parliamentary chief clerk for confirmation.
Lord Fusitu’a was re-elected to Parliament in a by-election yesterday.
The Noble was airlifted to Middlemore hospital in New Zealand last year. As Kaniva news reported at the time, Lord Fusitu’a had been hospitalised at Vaiola hospital in Tonga where he was placed on a ventilator.
The Minister of Finance confirmed last year that the government had paid for the noble’s expenses including the air ambulance, but he did not reveal the amount of money paid.
Sources told Kaniva news that Parliamentary law dictated that an MP could not be absent for more than a year and that Lord Fusitu’a had not attended sittings since August 5, 2019.
However, although the Noble missed Parliament he still received his Parliamentary pay and entitlements as a Noble according to Parliamentary regulations.
His seat was declared vacant last month.
A by-election to replace Lord Fusitu’a was held at the Palace Office yesterday.
Lord Fusitu’a’s re-election has been criticised on the grounds that he would still not be able to attend Parliament, a reliable source told Kaniva News.
The three Niuas nobles, Lord Tangipa, Lord Kalaniuvalu Fotofili and Lord Fusitu’a, who voted in absentia, voted among themselves.
Lord Fusitu’a won the seat with two votes while Lord Tangipa received one, said the Electoral Commissioner, Pita Vuki.
The Noble will continue to receive his Parliamentary pay and entitlements after yesterday’s election.
The main points
Lord Fusitu’a is still in hospital in Auckland, New Zealand, according to unconfirmed reports.
Kaniva news has contacted the Parliamentary chief clerk for confirmation.
Lord Fusitu’a was re-elected to Parliament in a by-election yesterday.
New Zealand – A fire that broke out overnight in the upper section of the Free Wesleyan Church of Tonga building in Raumanga in Whangarei has been brought under control.
The cause of the fire is still unknown, Northern Advocate has reported.
Fire investigators’ investigation of the cause of the blaze continued this morning, the paper said.
Siulolo Ahio, who lives at the house next to the church with her two children and husband who is the church’s minister, said she first discovered the fire when she could hear an unusual rattling sound from the church, the paper said.
“We heard rattles and we thought it was something from the downstairs storage room and I just wanted to check it out because the rattle was quite loud,” she said, according to the Advocate.
“I pulled the sliding door from our house and there I saw the flame, it was already engulfed.”
When the glass windows in the church exploded from the heat, Ahio immediately woke her mokopuna and evacuated the house.
The church, which normally saw about seven families to its weekly service, had not been in use since lockdown in March apart from some regular cleaning.
While she said the incident was quite distressing, Ahio thanked those from the community who had offered their support.
Community groups including The Fono, Whānau Ora, Fale Pasifika, Te Ora Hou and the local Raumanga kindergarten had all offered meat and other food for Ahio’s family and the wider church whānau.
“We appreciate all the phone calls and all the test messages we’ve been receiving, all the Facebook messages, we really appreciated that but we are safe.
“It’s been a overwhelming day but the amazing support from the community has been wonderful.”
