Tonga

Australian Minister briefed on solar energy generation facility in Ha’apai

The on-grid project will become the first utility scale solar energy generation facility in Ha’apai.

Tonga Power staff and Governor Mo’ale Finau were pleased to welcome the Minister at Ha’apai during her visit to the solar facility which is located at the power station in Pangai. The senator is in Tonga on an official visit to strengthen Australia’s bilateral relationships with its Pacific partner countries.

Tonga shares experiences on preserving marine diversity, tackling NCDs

“Tonga attaches great importance to Sustainable Development Goal 14 and believes it can be attained through set targets and indicators,” he said, adding that Tonga looked forward to the upcoming UN conference Goal 14 as an opportunity to see where the international community stands on the Organization’s efforts to preserve this precious resource, by, among others, build on existing successful partnerships and stimulate innovative and concrete new partnerships to advance the implementation of the Goal.

Tongan noble happy with UN progress on climate change

RNZ reports Lord Fusitu'a addressed a Commonwealth Secretariat meeting on climate change-induced migration on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly last week.

He was also part of the Tongan delegation to a number of UN workshops and meetings and says it was good to see a focus on climate change-related issues.

Lord Fusitu'a said discussions around the UN's Sustainable Development Goals, or SDGs, were particularly pleasing.

Tongan-Samoan boy, 2, dies after East Oakland bus crash

Jeremiah Esera was killed when he chased a ball into the street in the 2800 block of 35th Avenue at Penniman Avenue and was hit by an AC Transit bus, police were quoted by local media as saying.

He was pronounced dead at the scene.

A person very close to the family of the deceased who wished not to be named said the boy’s mother is from Kolomotu’a in Tonga but his father is Samoan.

Oakland’s East Bay Times reported that a relative said Jeremiah, his mother and his siblings were visiting another relative at a residence on 35th Avenue when the tragedy occurred.

Tonga ratifies Paris Agreement

“The adoption, signing and ratification of the Paris Agreement are wonderful news but by no means the end,” stated Ms. Patricia Espinosa the Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. (UNFCCC).

Tonga’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of MEIDECC, Siaosi Sovaleni, deposited Tonga’s instrument of signing of the Paris Agreement on April 22 2016, on behalf of the Kingdom of Tonga.

On August 12 2016, His Majesty King Tupou VI assented to the domestic ratification processes in His Privy Council at Nukuʻalofa.

Tonga PM calls for overhaul of sports funding

RNZ reports 'Akilisi Pohiva met with the new Executive Board Members of Tonga's Amateur Sports Association and National Olympic Committee last week.

He expressed his dissatisfaction with the current funding arrangements and said many sports got a lot of money for tours and other expenses but with no proper planning, training and preparation, and often with disastrous results.

Mr Pohiva said that the best way forward was for TASANOC to handle all the funding requests, set the benchmarks and criteria for allocation of government funding, and make the recommendations.

Double car accident reported in Nukuʻalofa

According to Kaniva News, no reports of death or injuries and the identities of those involved have yet to be released.

According to local news reports two cars crashed at ʻAlaivahamamaʻo road.

Another car crash on Taufaʻahau road in Fanga was also reported.

     

Official says Tongan govt can look to private sector as example

RNZ reports Pulono Toke said the northern islands have not had a reliable fuel supply for over a month.

Mr Toke said he knows of at least four companies who have ceased operations.

Over the weekend local MP 'Akosita Lavulavu partnered with a company and paid to bring fifty 200 litre drums of fuel to Vava'u.

Mr Toke said the move was welcomed but with over 15 whale-watching companies usually consuming 200 litres a day, per company, the supply would not last.

However he said it showed what the government could be doing.

Crisis on Vavaʻu as fuel runs out

And the head of the Ministry of Tourism’s Vava’u office, Pulono Toke, told Radio Australia last night that it could be six weeks before the crisis was resolved.

Toke said the government had hired a ship in Singapore to run the fuel service, but it would take a month-and-a-half for the vessel to reach Tonga.

Toke said some petrol and diesel was reaching the island, but not enough to keep the tourism industry going.

Tonga's Chief Justice re-instates Sevele

RNZ reports in June the Tonga government announced it had sacked Lord Sevele, a former prime minister, in an attempt to improve management and cut costs.

But the Pacific Games Council said this was an infringement of the hosting contract and that Lord Sevele remained in the post.

Lord Sevele then took the matter to court, but after a pre-trial conference in the judge's chambers, both parties have accepted an earlier judgement from Justice Paulsen that the attempted sacking could not stand.