By Pesi Fonua

A new multi-million Tonga parliament complex will be constructed on the Nuku'alofa waterfront - where project coordinators say the ground level for the building will have to be raised by about three meters to protect the national infrastructure from the effects of climate change and future sea level rise.

The total cost of this new parliamet complex will be funded by New Zealand and Australia; but $4.4 million has been allocated for the architectural work alone.

Climate Change and sea level rising were among the major issues raised during a community consultation in Nuku'alofa on 11 November, but the final response was that the Tongan Government can’t afford to move the capital Nuku’alofa to higher ground.

The new Tonga Parliament compound will cover a major part of the block of land, adjacent to the Tonga Development Bank. Some other government buildings there, including the Ministry of Lands/Education building, will be demolished.

A "Face to Face Consultation" over the planned construction of the new Fale Alea complex on Hala Vuna was conducted by Dr Faka’iloatonga Taumoefolau, the consultant Project Coordinator, on Thursday in Nuku'alofa, attended by about a dozen people from the adjacent area.

Construction is expected to start late next year 2022.

However, the final decision on the design of the new parliament building and the additional facilities that are needed, such as libraries, and meeting facilities for members of parliament and the public has yet to be finalised.

The stakeholder consultation involved residents, business operators, and government Ministries located in the CBD area around the development site.

“This will be part of the environmental impact assessment carried out to determine the negative and positive impacts the building will have on residents, businesses and offices that are located within the vicinity,” stated Dr Taumoefolau.

The consultation is being carried out in two parts, there is an online survey as well as the face to face surveys. Information was shared through https://www.facebook.com/SLAPInc247 [2]

The intention of the consultation was also to gather information on how to highlight Tongan architecture and culture within the building design. A tentative concept was displayed.

The project co-ordinators have held consultation meetings throughout the rural areas, and as far away as the Niuas.

Dr Taumoefolau said the consultation was only the second of its kind to be conducted in Nuku’alofa, and they still had a long way to go to finalise their plan before they present it to the National Spatial Authority for their approval.

However, one point was clear, according to Dr Taumoefolau, that the ground level will have to be raised by three meters to build the new Parliament complex

The site coveres a major part of the block of land bordered by Hala Vuna, Hala Lelue and Hala Fatafehi, in front of the Talamahu Market.

Other government ministries offices that are in the area, such as the Ministry of Lands and the Ministry of Education, have already moved out of the area or are in the process of moving to a new location.

The construction of the new facility will be funded by the New Zealand and the Australian governments, and at this stage.

Cyclone Gita

Tonga’s 125-year-old Parliament Building was destroyed by Cyclone Gita in February 2018. The parliament moved to the Tongan National Centre complex at Tofoa.

Because the law requires that parliament must be located in Nuku'alofa, this meant that the Ministry of Lands had to legally extend the area of Nuku’alofa, so this part of Tofoa is now part of Nuku’alofa.

A map of the new facility was on display, with tentative architectural concepts, but because nothing has been finalized, the consultation is still in progress and we don’t know yet what kind of new Parliament building we are going to have.

Demolition and the clearing up of the area in preparation for the construction work will start in March 2022, and the construction of the new Parliament Building and its facilities is expected start in December 2022.

The community consultation was held in a conference room at the National Reserve Bank Building.