Tonga wants to join Int'l Atomic Energy Agency [1]
Tuesday, September 27, 2016 - 17:52. Updated on Tuesday, September 27, 2016 - 19:11.
Tonga will apply to be a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency IAEA, Tonga’s Prime Minister, Hon. ‘Akilisi Pohiva told the UN General Assembly in New York on 24 September, during a 26 minutes address covering a range of issues, presented during the general debate of the 71st session.
'Akilisi made the announcement after he expressed his dismay over the latest nuclear test by North Korea, and his conviction that the proliferation of weapons by the super powers in all their forms threatened international peace and security. “A sheer waste of financial resources, those funds might be better spent on international sustainable development initiatives, and improving people’s lives,” said the Tongan Prime Minister.
He told the General Assembly there is a "need for controlled and managed use of nuclear capability and power by international standards for peaceful purposes. Tonga is thus at the final stage of the acceptance process of the statute of IAEA to formalise its state membership of the organisation. We hope to deposit the instrument with US State Department by end of this month."
He went on to congratulate the government of the United States for incrementally easing its restriction on economic activity in Cuba, and told the Assembly that there are Tongans students who are currently living and studying in Cuba.
However, the Tongan Prime Minister went on to say that "We will join again the majority of the states represented here this year to call on the United States for a timely lifting of its embargo on Cuba. Probably..."
Unfortunately, after this, in the 19th minute of his address, 'Akilisi lost track of his speech. After searching through his notes in silence for over half a minute, he went back and repeated a portion of his speech, before he plunged into an issue closer to home, the welfare of the West Papuans.
He reminded the UN that he raised his concern over the welfare of the West Papuans when he delivered his first speech at the UN General Assembly in 2015, “but nothing had been done. "We don’t know what is going on in there, may be something is wrong,” said the Prime MInister, before he recited a biblical story of a good Samaritan who helped to clothe and treat the wounds of a poor man who was lying on the side of the road.
The Prime Minister said that Tonga and the Pacific Island Forum are very concern about what is happening in West Papua, “we support the proposition, that is also supported by the UN for a dialogue with Indonesia,"
He also expressed his concern over Transnational Crime and drug trafficking in Tonga, and the Pacific.
Along with his call for the equitable development of all states, the Prime Minister renewed Tonga’s commitment to the UNDP Sustainable Development Goals to be completed by 2030, and said that it is important “that no one is left behind.”
For the full speech go to: United Nations Webcast: webtv.un.org, 24 Sep 2016 [2]
Samiuela ‘Akilisi Pohiva, Prime Minister, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Minister for Education and Training of the Kingdom of Tonga, addresses the general debate of the 71st Session of the General Assembly of the UN.