From the House by Pesi Fonua

The final resting place for Tonga’s War Memorial remains uncertain amidst conflicting statements that were made by Cabinet Ministers in parliament and a press release from His Majesty’s Armed Forces yesterday, 8 September.

Public concern was raised in Parliament yesterday by Lord Nuku, over the destruction of a concrete protecting wall around the cenotaph, and the removal of marble memorial plaques engraved with the names of fallen soldiers from the first and the second world wars.

The public is questioning why are they destroying and moving the war memorial from this historical site, established by Queen Salote in 1953, and one of Nuku’alofa’s historical landmarks.

The Minister for Infrastructure Hon. ‘Etuate Lavulavu, heads the ministry responsible for the clearing of the site in preparation for the construction of a new government building called St George's Palace, funded by China and to be built by a Chinese company. ‘Etuate told the House that the cenotaph will be moved from Pangai Si’i to the National Flag Station. He said that the relocation of the cenotaph was necessary to protect it from heavy construction work that will be carried out in the area.

Lord Nuku, however, queried why they had moved the cenotaph but not the Treasury building and the Prime Minister’s Office building, which appeared more fragile than the cenotaph.

The Minister of Land and Natural Resources and Defence, Lord Ma'afu told the House that a press release would be out shortly that would clarify all uncertainties about what government is doing to the cenotaph. “We are doing our best,” he said and they were fulfilling the wishes of the King.

“Which wishes of His Majesty’s do you fulfil and which ones do you not?” responded Lord Nuku.  “[The king] said to annul the ratification of CEDAW, but government is calling for a referendum.”

Hon. Fe’ao Vakata, the Minister for internal Affairs broke the tension by further clarifying the government's position with regards to the cenotaph. He elaborated that the base rock foundation weighs 40 tonnes, and it could not be moved. They considered that the statue of the soldier on top of the monument and the plaques with the names of soldiers were vulnerable to be damaged from ground-shaking during the construction, so the relocation of the cenotaph to the National Flag Station would be until the construction of St George's Palace is completed then the cenotaph would be moved back to Pangai Si’i.

HMAF

However, when His Majesty’s Armed Forces issued their press release before mid-day yesterday, 8 September, there was no mention of a relocation of the cenotaph from the National Flag Station back to Pangai Si’i. 

Matangi Tonga contacted the person who issued the press release to clarify if the cenotaph would be relocated back to Pangai Si’i when the construction of St George's Palace is completed, and the response was “don’t twist the press release”.

The press release stated there were “challenges associated with relocation of a stone structure". It described the removal as: "The relocation of the centotaph to its new location will utilise as much of the original material as possible from the old location. This may not be possible as original materials may have deteriorated over time.”