A group of 63 Tongan seasonal workers will leave for New Zealand on February 11, the 16th group to join the RSE scheme.

Sione Maumau, the Deputy Secretary at Tonga's Ministry of Labour, Commerce and Small Industries, said the group was selected from Tongatapu and they will work at Mr Apple and in Nelson.

He said to date a total of 296 Tongans had joined the scheme since it began in July last year, but 19 voluntarily returned home.

They returned because they did not reach an agreement with their employer regarding their working rate.

Sione explained that under the RSE agreement contract signed by workers before they leave, employers are required to pay the minimum wage in New Zealand and that was the case, but the actual rate of a worker say, hourly or per bin of fruit they picked varies and can only be set when they get there.

He added that although the group returned home the New Zealand employers were still interested in selecting workers from Tonga.

With regards to a Tongan man who is charged with rape, he said he was still working in New Zealand while waiting his trial, and would continue working unless he is convicted of the charge, he said.

Recruiting

Sione said the selection of the most suitable and reliable people to join the scheme relied mainly on the recommendation from the various town officers and village committees.

"We rely mainly on these recommendations to recruit the best people to go on the job because they know their own villagers. In addition we cannot go into every village and select the people we think are reliable for the job in the short amount of time given.

"However there are still people who were recommended who tend to drink alcohol so we reminded the Village officers and committees to select people who are suitable that can make use of this opportunity," he said.

Tongan seasonal workers may remain in New Zealand for a maximum of seven months.

This is an opportunity for honest Tongans who return when their time is up because they will have many more chances to be recruited again, Sione added.

"Because of the massive interest in the scheme we try our best to recruit as many first time goers so that everyone on the island has the chance to better their living standard," he said.