The Tonga Geological Service is finding itself in a helpless situation with no working offshore dredger, and with sand mining from Tongatapu’s few surviving beautiful beaches becoming an issue.

Construction demands have stripped sand from many beaches, and now Hihifo's Sunset Coast beaches are being ravaged by sand miners.

Geologist Taaniela Kula told Matangi Tonga today that since the dredger (owned by a private company) was damaged by Tropical Cyclone Gita in early 2018, they have had to allow sand mining from beaches “because there is nothing else”.

He said the owner of the dredger is waiting for parts for repair but they have had legal issues to deal with.

He is looking at other dredgers, including a local investor interested in offshore dredging. In the meantime, tonnes of sand are allowed to be taken from beaches identified by the Geology office “with a permit.”

“For development projects, we use ‘Ahononou [beach]. But then after Cyclone Harold, it took out a lot of the sand. It just transformed the area and most of it was taken away. So, we stopped mining ‘Ahononou post Cyclone Harold,” he said.

He said currently sand for development projects is being taken from different beaches to “minimize the erosion on any one beach”.

Taaniela said they supply sand (around 40 – 50 tonnes) once a week for development projects. He said staff from the geology office have to supervise to ensure contractors only take what they need.

“It’s starting to be a problem.”

Illegal sand mining has also increased, said Taaniela.

“Because we restrict the access to sand. And people want to go to places that are close to them for ease of access. Like Tokomololo, Ha’ateiho beaches. They are all cleaned out. They’re all cleaned out because they are the closest pocket beaches."

He said people don’t want to go all the way out to other beaches, as directed by the Geology office, and they don’t want to pay for the labour.

“So, it gets more expensive when you go out, so they go to the pocket beaches [instead].”

If people are found pilfering sand at beaches without a permit, they are charged for the amount of sand taken, he said.

So the math favours illegal mining, and not many illegal sand miners get caught.

Supervising all beaches on Tongatapu is difficult for the Geology office due to the limited amount of resources.

Sand mining from Tongatapu beaches has been banned in the past when offshore dredging was in operation.  

But for now, until a dredger can be obtained, sand mining on Tongan beaches will continue with little restriction to meet construction demands.

Helpless situation

The government-sanctioned sand mining on Tonga's tourism beaches is a fourth tragedy for Tonga's tourism industry.

In 2018 Severe Tropical Cyclone Gita caused enormous environmental damage, a major blow.

Then in March 2020 visitor arrivals ceased under an ongoing border closure that has lasted for over six months.

A third blow, Tropical Cyclone Harold in April, destroyed key tourism properties at Hihifo, with a tsunami-like storm surge sweeping the area, and leaving wreckage embedded in the beach and lagoon.

Now, sand mining for rebuilding and roads construction is destroying what is left of the safest swimming beaches on Tongatapu in the areas that were most committed to tourism development.

'Utukehi Beach

Last week there were two complaints from beach resort owners at Hihifo.

The owner of White Sands Beach Resort, Gloria, said she shut her gates to stop a bulldozer moving onto the small beach. “They said they had a permit to remove 60 tonnes of sand,” she said. [Geology confirmed this].

So the bulldozer cut a new access road. On last weeks's public holiday, 17 September, various truckers removed at least 20 tonnes of sand.

White Sands Resort used to be promoted as: “A getaway for your enjoyment on a spectacular picturesque sandy beachfront on a beautiful South Pacific island.”

Kanokupolu Beach

Further along the coast, and now a shadow of its former self, Kanokupolu Beach has been heavily impacted by sand mining, unrestricted beach head development, and erosion.

The serious erosion and sand mining are a huge concern for Shane Egan the co-owner of the Blue Banana Resort at Kanokupolu Beach. Sand mining has been going on at the beach for several years.

“Our beaches are an important asset for the future of us all,” he said.

This week resort owners were told that the Geology officers visited Kanokupolu Beach and had advised bulldozers to stop taking sand from the beach.