Disclaimer over BBC article [1]
Monday, August 1, 2005 - 11:45. Updated on Monday, May 12, 2014 - 10:18.
Re. BBC news article: Strikes grips cash-strapped Tonga [2]
A report by the BBC News about the Tongan strike, published on the BBC news website on 28 July, 14:07:09 GMT, wrongly attributed quotes to the Matangi Tonga web-site. The Matangi Tonga has not reported Finau Tutone, the President of the Public Service Association, as saying such things.
The quotes in the BBC article that predicted violence as a result of the unresolved strike, did not come from Matangi Tonga.
For the record, Matangi Tonga did quote Finau Tutone as stressing the peaceful nature of the dispute, saying that all public servants who were on strike would meet at Pangai Si'i, next to the Treasury, to hear speeches, sing songs and drink kava while waiting to hear from government.
Finau Tutone was also reported by Matangi Tonga as saying that if Cabinet would not accept their proposals they were looking at taking legal action and presenting a petition to the King.
Our reports bear no resemblance to the BBC attribution.
The Editor, Matangi Tonga Online.