Tongan lawyer calls Government to deal with high rates of violence

A Nuku'alofa-based lawyer, Sione Fonua, is calling on the Tongan Government to reset its priorities in light of the high incidence of homicides last month.

King Tupou VI attended the National Day of Prayer in Nuku'alofa last week following a spate of brutal attacks and the gruesome murder of six people.

Sione Fonua says drugs and alcohol are at the heart of the high crime rates but Government and Police are at loggerheads over the Police Commissioner's role.

"The drug problem here in Tonga is uncontrollable and the Commissioner of Police is trying his best with the little resources that he has to fight that," he says.

"If it's working together [the] Police Commissioner and the Government we may get somewhere. It's a big problem that we are facing here because the Government's priority is something else."