Ocean of Light students excel in Cambridge exam [1]
Wednesday, February 25, 2009 - 11:39. Updated on Thursday, February 12, 2015 - 21:40.
Reports from Tonga's newspapers, February 12-18, 2009. An English translation summary by Tevita Fonua.
The Kalonikali on February 12 reports that students from the Ocean of Light School, a private school on Tongatapu, have achieved outstanding results in the Cambridge International Examinations.
The Talaki on February 18 quotes Finance Minister Afu'alo Matoto as saying that the Tongan government is taking steps to acquire the management of the Janful International Dateline Hotel. According to the minister, the hotel in which the government has a 49% stake is not earning enough to repay the money that the government had borrowed to finance the hotel's operation.
The Taimi on February 18 reports on a division within the Church of Wesleyan Families of New Zealand. It was registered in 1997 as a church by a group that split from the Free Wesleyan Church of Tonga and is headed by a steward. Since then each time a new steward is elected, the old one and some of the church members leave. The latest discontent to hit the church is over the purchase of an ex-nunnery; a move that was supported by the steward and 16 families, but is opposed by 17 families, including the deputy steward and the deputy chief secretary, and it has also caused the departure of several more from the church.
The Taimi asserts that Demo leader 'Akilisi Pohiva is a popular figure for returning some of his salary and overtime allowances from parliament to the Treasury, claiming that he was not entitled to these, and then publicizing his action. But they report that according to a colleague, 'Akilisi later sneaked back and withdraw it all.
Claiming to be an 87-year old ex-navy diver, Ellison Johnston from the US claimed that he and an associate had found about 40 gold coins on the seabed at Ha'apai while diving there during World War II to examine the hull of an American ship. They buried the treasure at a beach at Ha'akame on Tongatapu. They returned later only to find that there are many beaches at Ha'akame and were unable to locate where the gold was hidden.
The Taimi aslo reports that women's leaders of Tongatapu are submitting a proposal to the Constitutional and Electoral Commission demanding that 5 seats in parliament be reserved for women.