Newspaper’s business licence to be suspended [1]
Tuesday, December 30, 2003 - 12:00. Updated on Thursday, February 18, 2016 - 18:04.
From Matangi Tonga Magazine Vol. 18, no. 3, December 2003.
The Tonga office of the Taimi ‘o Tonga Newspaper has been told by the Business Licence Sector of the Ministry of Labour and Commerce it will not extend its business licence to operate in Tonga when the weekly newspaper’s quarterly business licence expires on December 31.
Manager of the Taimi, Filokalafi ‘Akau‘ola, said that he inquired to the Ministry in the first week of November about the possibility of renewing their licence, and was informed that for the time being it was to be put on hold.
The Media Operators Bill introduced by government to regulate media has been passed by the Tonga Parliament and in December was still awaiting the King’s approval.
Once the King signs the Bill, the Taimi ‘o Tonga, as well as other media operators in the Kingdom will be adversely affected by the disincentives to publishing that are contained in the restrictive Bill.
“The only hope we are looking at now if we do get shut down is that the people of Tonga, if they feel strongly about the service that we are offering then they should stand with us to fight it,” said Filokalafi.
Following the October 6, Freedom March in Tonga, Filokalafi said he was sure that there was strong support from the people for Freedom of the Press.
Filokalafi said that he saw the Media Bill as a result of the Government’s failure, not only because government had lost all its court battles over the banning of the Taimi ‘o Tonga earlier this year, but also because it was now taking away the people’s rights of free speech.
“They have changed the whole country when they amended the Constitution, instead of directly tackling the core problem with us.”
Meanwhile, the Taimi ‘o Tonga’s Tonga office is still carrying on with their normal day to day work routine.
There are currently nine staff, including Tonga Editor, Mateni Tapueluelu; and Deputy Editor, Taina Kami ‘Enoka. If Government refuses to renew their business licence the office will have to close down, forcing the staff out of a job.
The Taimi ‘o Tonga was established in 1989 by Kalafi Moala, a Tongan national who is now a naturalised American citizen who lives in New Zealand, where the Tongan language newspaper is printed and published.