From the House, Minute No. 56, Wednesday October 6 2004

- annual report of the Ministry of Police.

Speaker - reminded the House that there were still a few Bills and Annual Reports to be presented to the House. He said that the National Pension Scheme Bill was yet to be debated by the House.

He called on the new Minister of Defence, Hon. 'Aloua Fetutolu Tupou, to make his maiden speech in the House.

Minister of Defence - told the House that he was the third Minister of Defence, the first was the Crown Prince Tupouto'a, and then Prince 'Ulukalala Lavaka Ata. He pledged that he would do his utter most to fulfil his duty to the King and the country.

Speaker - invited the new Minister of Justice and the Attorney General Hon. Siaosi Taimani 'Aho, to make his maiden speech.

Attorney General and the Minister of Justice - said that there were two points that he wanted to raise, one was a reminder and the other was a thank you.

He said that the oath that he took was to obey HM Taufa'ahau Tupou IV, the King of Tonga, and secondly to uphold the Tongan Constitution, and thirdly to abide by the Rules and Regulations of the House. He thanked the Speaker and the House for welcoming him to the House.

Speaker - dissolved the Legislature and the Chairman of the Whole House Committee, Prince Tu'ipelehake took his Chair.

Chairman - called for the House to proceed with the annual report of the Ministry of Police.

'Etuate Lavulavu - commented on the crime rate. Topping the list was traffic violations, followed by theft and in third place was burglary. He suggested for the Police department to run a program at primary schools and high schools, teaching them how not to get into trouble with the law, and not to use drugs.

Minister of Education - told the House that already there was a program, Crossroads, organised jointly by the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Education to help students from Form 3 upward on the problem of illicit drugs.

'Uliti Uata - corrected the statistic that 'Etuate Lavulavu read out and that the total number of crimes committed during 2003 in Ha'apai were 395, Vava'u, 1123 and Tongatapu 12.923, a lot less that the figures that were read out by the members.

Peauafi Haukinima - said that the police were doing a good job in the Niuas because only five crimes were committed in Niuatoputapu and three in Niuafo'ou.

Minister of Police - was pleased to know that the Member was very happy with the state of law and order in the Niuas. He presumed that the member no longer wanted to have a police magistrate in the Niuas.

Peauafi Haukinima - was pleased for a Police Magistrate to be stationed in the Niuas either this year or next year.

Chairman but there were no crimes.

Peauafi Haukinima - said that there was a marked increase in the revenue collected by the Ministry. He also pointed out that there was no vehicle on the island for public servants to use.

Chairman - said that the Ministry of Agriculture has a tractor and a trailer. He said that a car would not last on the island.

Peauafi Haukinima - said that a four wheel drive vehicle would be most suitable.

'Akilisi Pohiva - said that according to the statistics that were read out by 'Etuate Lavulavu, the reason why most crimes were not solved by the Police was because of a lack of funds. He suggested for funds to be taken from the Tonga Defence Service to the Police. He said there was a desperate need by the police. He wondered why there was a need for an army? What was the problem?

Acting Prime Minister - he said that the crime rate was insignificant and did not warrant a reallocation of votes.

'Akilisi - insisted that it was injustice for tax payers money to be misspent on things that the country did not really need.

Minister of Defence - said that the whole purpose of having an army is to defend the country. He said that the whole of Polynesia does not have any defence, asides from the colonial powers, Ha'amoa and the Cook Islands by New Zealand. He said that Tonga prided itself with its independence and a Defence Service was part of securing that independence. He said that Tonga had been a sovereign state for over 100 years and during these years we had signed treaties, and were bound by these treaties between sovereign states. He said that that was the reason for our involvement in the Solomons and also in Bougainville. He also pointed out that the Army was also involved in Social Economic Development programs, offering technical training and the introduction of new technologies. He said there was also a program to schools, dentist and village programs. He said that the TDS benefited greatly from its development programs with New Zealand, Australia, USA, China, Britain and France.

'Akilisi Pohiva - Thanked the Minister for the clarification, but he said that his main concern was that 59% of all crimes committed in Tonga remain unsolved and he thought that that was a very dangerous situation and government should find the fund from somewhere to solve the problem.

'Uliti Uata - said that the Ministry collected $347,105 from the issuing of driving licences and $700,000 from registration fees. He suggested that some of this money should go toward road construction.

He also expressed his concern that after reporting a crime to the Police nothing was done because the police said they did not have a vehicle. He suggested for the fund to be transferred from the vote of the TDS to the Police.

Noble Tu'ivakano - recalled a number of supplement budgets for the Ministry of Police to buy new vehicles. He felt that the police were good at complaining but they were not doing their job properly.

Minister of Education - suggested a way to curb the increase of unsolved crimes was for more town and district officers to be elected.

Dr Feleti Sevele - pointed out the number of Criminal Defamation cases that government had lost, causing government a lot of money. He moved for defamation case to be only a civil case and not a criminal case because it has been very costly to government.

He also suggested for government to introduce a third party insurance policy for traffic accidents. He also suggested for Tonga to adopt a point system that was used in NZ and Australia, where a driver would lose his or her licence once he or she committed a certain number of traffic offences.

Sunia Fili - expressed his concern over the increasing number of drink driving accidents.

Chairman - called for a vote, and the annual report of the Ministry of Police was carried 16-0.

He called for the proceeding to continue with the Annual Report of the Minister of Justice and Attorney General.

'Etuate Lavulavu - wanted to know the outcome of a visit to the USA by the Minister of Justice on 29 September 2003 to check on the Tonga Trust Fund.

Minister of Justice - said he did not know anything about the Tonga Trust Fund.

Dr Feleti Sevele - expressed his concern over legal advice given by the Crown Law Department to government to take some one to court, but at the end government lost the case, he felt that the legal personnel who made the recommendation were not taking full responsibility for their action.

He also expressed his concern over claims that were made against the former chief justice, which he said was never clarified by the former Minister of Justice but it marred the image of the judiciary.

'Etuate Lavulavu - said that a court hearing was still pending, awaiting details on a government contract.

Dr Feleti Sevele - said that issue as sensitive as this should be dealt with immediately. He also suggested for a better way of appointing judges.

'Akilisi Pohiva - praised the independent of the Judiciary and it was something that really upheld the credibility of the Tongan government.