Ring leaders still at large, devastated business people told [1]
Thursday, December 14, 2006 - 19:51. Updated on Monday, May 19, 2014 - 19:22.
Delays in the arrests of the ring leaders of the mob, who destroyed the Nuku'alofa CBD on November 16, means that Tonga's emergency powers and the restricted zone must remain in force, a meeting of displaced business people was told on Tuesday.
The Minister for Labour, Commerce and Industry, Hon. Lisiate 'Akolo listened to complaints from many of the businesses that were not badly damaged by the fires, but were forced to close down because of the establishment of a restricted zone for Nuku'alofa central business district.
Lisiate told the meeting that government made its security decision based on information from the security service of the Tonga Police and the Tonga Defence Service, and that there was still a need for the restriction of movement in the central area.
"The priority for government is law and order, and because the ringleaders have not been arrested the restricted area remains in force," he said.
Tuesday's meeting at the Janfull International Dateline Hotel was called to allow representatives of aid donors from New Zealand, Australia, the Asian Development Bank and the World Bank to hear the stories of Nuku'alofa business people who were affected by the riots of November 16.
Lisiate said that government was in the process of setting up a cash facility for affected businesses under four categories:
1. Businesses that have lost their stock;
2. Businesses that were indirectly affected by the riot;
3. Businesses that were seeking softer lending terms;
4. Businesses that were in need of technical assistance.
He said that any hope for a direct cash grant from government to help affected business was simply not possible, and one of the problems was because it was difficult for government to work out a formula on how to distribute such a grant.
Business people expressed concern that the government was talking too much talk and there was no action. They said the offer to delay CT collection for one month was too short and it should have been six months. The government's offer to exempt CT and Duty on containers already on the wharf belonging to affected businesses, was not working, businesses said, because there was so much delay in the requirements for approvals that in the end they just paid for it to save time.
The Tonga government was also represented at the meeting by the Minister for Public Enterprises, Hon. Afu'alo Matoto.
Frustrated
When the business people were asked by the aid donors' representatives to tell their stories, an air of frustration suddenly filled the room.
Marco Veronesi, an Italian restaurant owner, said that though his Lunarossa Restaurant, was gutted he could rebuild and should be able to be back in business in three months times, but to do it he needed NZD$300,000 on a soft loan for about 15 years.
The owner of the Lalita Store had a very sad story to tell. "We lost everything. We lost our stock, and also our supply, because our warehouse was in the same building," he said.
The saddest story was from Yu family businesses, the Fung Shing group. Their China Town Hotel and supermarket were torched and their family home was looted.
The small businesses in the area which were not affected by the riot but had to close down because the area has been declared a restricted area, were dismayed that they will not be able to open for business for the rest of the year.
The harsh reality is that law and order has not been restored, and until that is done, the Nuku'alofa CBD will remain a restricted area for the public.