Tonga's local television stations marked two milestones recently.

Tonfön Television since the end of July has been presenting a weekly news service in Tongan and English.

Lilika Mafi, the editor of Tonfön news, said that their weekly news is first broadcast at 1pm every Sunday on Channel 3, then in the evening 7 pm on Ch. 2, 8pm on Ch. 3, and 9pm on Ch. 4. Its final reading is on Monday 7pm on Ch. 3.

The independent Oceania Broadcasting Network, OBN, celebrated the 14th anniversary of its operation in Tonga on September 29. Sangstar Sauala, the station manager and his staff had an audience with the king to mark the occasion, and later held a barbeque at the station to complete the celebration.

Meanwhile, the local Tongan newspapers this week reported on the unexpected salary rise for top civil servants; the reopening of the boarding house at Tonga College; several issues raised in the House by People's Representatives; and a new wholesale venture by two local women who want to challenge their competition by using racial definitions.

Kalonikali

The front page story of the October 6, Kalonikali was the re-admittance of boarders to Tonga College.

On Tuesday, 4 October, 100 boarders were admitted into the college. The boarders occupy two of the six vacant dormitories at the school. Tonga College ceased to take in boarders a few years ago because of continuous fights between Tonga College and Tupou College students. Animosity between the two boys' colleges reached a peak when students from Tupou College raided Tonga College at night and destroyed gardens and properties. Boarding was then stopped because of concern over the safety of borders. Deputy Principal Vilai 'Ilolahia said that 300 borders would be admitted to Tonga College next year.

Top level salary rise

The Kalonikali this week reported that following the signing of the MOU, by government and the striking civil servants on September 4 to end the seven-weeks strike, Cabinet had approved for nobles to be given a 60% salary increase. Cabinet also approved for the king, the Crown Prince, town officers, and the district officers to be given a 36% salary increase.

There was a claim by Dr Feleti Sevele and Sione Peauafi Haukinima that with the 60, 70, 80% salary rise package, Level 2 civil servants would be earning $34,928 per annum, which is more than the $30,198 annual salary of a Cabinet Minister.

Clive Edwards the legal counselor for the striking civil servants and the Tongatapu No. 3 People's Representative, disputed the claim. He said that the basic salary of a minister had already been risen to $44,000, added on to this was the minister's salary from the House, plus board member's fees, allowances and meeting fees. He said that the salary of a cabinet minister was well over $80,000 per annum, more than double the $34,928 annual salary of a Level 2 civil servant.

Kele'a

The front page story of October 5 Kele'a featured a pledge by two local business women to fight the domination by the Chinese of the wholesaling and the retailing business in Tonga.

Both Nova from Nova's Store and 'Ofa Simiki from the OSB Trading offered to scale down their wholesale operations, and to form one big wholesaling operation with other Tongan shops, or falekoloas.

The plan is for this group of Tongan shop owners to raise capital and order goods in bulk, and in that way they get cheaper goods and also stop buying from Chinese wholesalers. The Kele'a reported that in three days five Tongan businesses came up with half a million pa'anga to kick start the project. The Chinese during the past years are slowly taking over the wholesale and the retail business in Tonga.

Talaki



The October 5 Talaki front page story for the week reported the return of one of the Peau Vava'u DC3 aircraft to New Zealand. According to Ramanlal Vallabh of Peau Vava'u, it was a business decision because they were looking for a better aircraft for the domestic service. Peau Vava'u bought the two DC3 from Pine Air of New Zeland for more than a million last year.

The Talaki reported that Peau Vava'u has a lot more on its mind these days than returning the DC3 to Pine Air. The Ministry of Civil Aviation has given Peau Vava'u a 30-day ultimatum to either toe the line as it was outlined on their monopoly licence that was issued in August 2004, or the domestic air service would be opened up for tender.

The one specific commitment that the Peau Vava'u has not been able to fulfill, was to be able to fly to Niuatoputapu, Niuafo'ou, and 'Eua. There was also a rebuttal by Mosikaka Moengangongo, to comments that were made by PRs Sunia Fili and Samiu Vaipulu in the House.

Taimi 'o Tonga

The October 4 Taimi launched an attack on the Minister of Labour Dr Feleti Sevele, for suppressing the news, when it stopped the Taimi from selling in his supermarket, and his cancellation of the Ministry of Labour's Taimi supscription. It said that the action taken by the Minister and his anger because he was criticized was contrary to his pro-democracy stance.

The October 7 Taimi highlighted a query by 'Akilisi Pohiva in the House concerning the whereabouts of the one billion that the King said in his opening speech of the parliament this year would be invested in Tonga by a foreign investor. He had his doubts that any foreign investor or banks would invest this kind of money in Tonga and he wanted the Ministers to clarify it, but no one gave any conclusive answer.

The story that the king has millions in foreign bank accounts, remains a resurgent issue that neither the royal family nor government so far has bothered to clarify.