Tonga's King Taufa‘ahau Tupou IV has indicated that he will this evening respond to a petition that was presented to him by yesterday's mass march to the palace of civil servants.

There was clapping and cheering at the Pangai Si'i rallying point this morning when Prince Tu'ipelehake arrived to announce that he had received a message from the Palace that the King would respond to the PSA petition this evening.

Prince Tu'ipelehake told the excited crowd that he was about to go and attend to his cattle farm when he received the message from the Palace, and he thought he would rather come and personally pass on the good news.

The gesture by the Prince, who has cemented a personal relationship with the strikers since he led the march yesterday, was overwhelming to some who were not only cheering but were also crying with joy.

The national strike of civil servants went into its 19th day today.

Teachers of government schools have not returned to work as expected by government. In spite of radio announcements from government that schools would be open, school gates remained locked and classrooms closed, leaving many children in school uniforms wandering around the town this morning.

Meanwhile, teachers who have been without pay for two weeks are feeling the pinch and some have been going around asking for contributions from the parents of their students, in order to feed their families.