The demolition and the clearing of burned-out building sites in Nuku'alofa is behind schedule, according to Loka Vaha-mo-Kioa of the Ministry of Works, which oversees the demolition program.

The demolishing and the clearing of sites in the restricted area of central Nuku'alofa was scheduled to be completed by December 30, so that by the new year, rebuilding and construction could begin. But as of today, January 2, the clearing of some of the big sites such as the ruins of the Tungi Arcade and the Kafua Building had not been finished.

Loka said that Phase Two comprised the clearing of 11 sites, including the two-storey Royco Building and the Taumoepeau Building. The future of these two buildings was still awaiting the report of structural engineers, who recently assessed the damage. The top floors of the buildings were gutted.

11 sites

The five contractors who were awarded the clearing up of the 11 sites in the restricted area were the Island Tools Construction, South Seas Construction, Tafolo, Pyramid Construction, and Takiama Construction.

The Takiama Construction of 'Etuate Lavulavu has four sites to clear, while the other four contractors have a site each.

Loka said that Phase One had comprised the demolition and the clearing of burned buildings outside the Restricted Zone and has been completed. There were seven sites and the clearing was carried out by six companies.

"Phase One was funded by government to the tune of over $100,000," said Loka, "but Phase Two will be financed by AusAid, and the contractors will be paid once they have completed the task."

Demolition contracts

After contractors were invited to bid for the job, 30 companies tendered, but only 21 qualified, and then out of the 21 only a handful got contracts.

Meanwhile, a bidder to the demolition contracts has expressed dissatisfaction with how contracts were awarded. A manager of one of the companies that qualified to tender but was not awarded a contract, believed the that contracts were awarded to the lowest bidder, and he said, "unfortunately the jobs were not done properly." He claimed that dangerous demolition practices were used, and that there was random dumping of debris that was unsuitable for landfill because it contained metal and other things.

Loka confirmed the random dumping and said that although there were specified sites for dumping the debris from burned buildings, "but obviously some of these contractors are dumping them wherever they want to."