Manase Tonga (42) received a suspended prison sentence on August 28 at the Supreme Court for possession of cannabis, and also a rifle and ammunition without a licence, in two separate incidents in 2018-19.

Hon Mr Justice Niu said on June 26, he convicted the accused on possession of 29 packs of cannabis and nine .22 rifle ammuntion found in his car at Sopu on November 7, 2018.

In a second incident at Veitongo on April 30, 2019 he pleaded guilty to three other offences.

This was for possession of a .22 rifle and ammunition without a licence and four packets of cannabis seeds, which weighed at 1.26 grams. 
These were also found in his car.

Fua'amotu well worker

The judge said on August 7 the accused made oral representation before him because he had no legal counsel.

The accused said, he was the only one who can maintain a water pump, which pumps up the water from a well and provides for Fua'amotu, and was paid $400 per month for that work. He also planted lose yams, and exports [30 sacks twice a year].

He said that was all the money he received to maintain himself and family, and that that was why when the drug people came and offered him to sell the illicit drugs for them, he accepted.

The water well of Fua'amotu is over 150 feet deep and it is a round hole about eight feet wide dug through the rocks from ground level all the way down to the water, and that the pump is an electric submersible pump, that is, the pump must be below the surface of the water for it to pump the water up to ground level and then up to the overhead tanks 30 feet above ground level. 

The pump always had problems and it had to be attended to down at the bottom of the well and he had to be lowered by a rope tied around him by two men feeding the rope through an overhead pulley.

"You said that as you descend, you find it difficult to breathe and that you only take small amounts of air with each breath and that while you are down there you have to move very slowly so that you conserve the little air there is down there. You say because you take things slowly, you take a long time to finish the job that is required to be done and so it takes from morning until evening for it to be done."

In addition, the accused did not use any oxygen bottle or breathing apparatus or air hose or any such aid. He had been doing this job for the village for many years because no one else could go down the well and do what he does.

The judge believed him because the town officer, water manager and district officer said the same thing. They all praised him for his unique and selfless service to the people of Fua'amotu, and said that without him, there would be no water for the village.

“I can believe that,” he said.

Selling drugs

The judge was also concerned that the people of Fua'amotu did not appear to appreciate the work that he did.

"They do not seem to realise that because you work without sufficient oxygen down in the well for so long and over many years, your body has to function that much slower than a normal person, and that when you come  back up and try and do your normal work as a farmer, your body cannot adjust to normal oxygen level and so you cannot dig, cut and hoe like other farmers. Even your brain cells are slower."

The judge had to ask him the same question several times when questioning him because he did not seem to understand.

The accused said, because the $400 which the village paid him was not enough for him and his family to live on and because he was not thinking properly, he was easily tempted and he accepted the offer which the drug people offered him - that he sold the cannabis for them and he kept part of the money for his own income.

Poor working conditons

The judge accepted that $400 a month was not sufficient to maintain himself and his family in one month, and that the village must provide better working facilities for him and for anyone else who works in the well.

“I do not think it is wise for the present system of lowering a person down with a rope held by two people should continue, and oxygen should be provided by an air pump pumping air down air pipes to the bottom at all times, while a person is working down there. 


“I also have no authority to make any order that the village water committee carry out these necessary improvements. I can only recommend that they do so and that they do so right away. 
If the accused is sufficiently paid for the work that he does and that the facilities are properly provided to ensure he does not continue to suffer the present health and safety hazards described, he said.

Serious offences

The judge then agreed with the Crown that the two offences for possession of illicit drug were serious, and the accused had them for the purpose of sale for use by users.

He agreed with the recommendation, that the accused be sentenced to imprisonment for two-years but suspended for two-years. 

The accused was then sentenced to two-years imprisonment for the possession of 29 packs of cannabis. He was also sentenced on the possession of ammunition and rifle, which are being served concurrently.

In addition, the sentence was fully suspended the two-years sentence on condition, that if the accused commits another offence punishable with imprisonment, he will serve the suspended sentence in addition to any sentence for the subsequent offence.

The rifle and all the ammunition were forfeited to the Crown and cannabis to be destroyed by police.