New Vuna Wharf to attract cruise ships [1]
Sunday, June 27, 2010 - 18:15. Updated on Sunday, April 20, 2014 - 12:11.
A $32 million reconstruction of Vuna Wharf project was announced on Friday, June 25 by Tonga's Prime Minister, Hon. Dr Feleti Sevele, who expects the facility to attract dozens of cruise ships a year into Nuku'alofa.
The Prime Minister envisaged a bustling tourist centre, which will include the Vuna Wharf, a yachting marina, a shopping mall and the Royal Palace.
On Friday a sub-contracting agreement was signed between the China Civil Engineering and Construction Corporation CCECC and Fletcher Construction Ltd. to carry out the dredging of the entrance to the wharf and the reconstruction of Vuna Wharf.
Dr Sevele said that when the new wharf facility comes into operation at the beginning of 2012 it could attract 66 to 100 cruise ships a year to Nuku'alofa.
"This will mean a lot of opportunities, for taxis, bus drivers, tour operators, farmers, handicraft, and the whole works. Government has looked at the feasibility study, and the project will be able to pay for itself.
"We have been talking to Carnival Australia, one of the biggest cruise ships operators, and they will be here in a couple of months to assist government in our discussions with Fletcher and CCECC on the type of facilities, and how things should be done in order to comply and to accommodate the large number of cruise ships that we hope to bring to Nuku'alofa in the future."
He said that the number of cruise ships that sailed from Australia to the Pacific islands had increased by 18 to 20%, and about 120 cruise ships called into Vanuatu a year. The Prime Minister said that besides cruise ships, the Vuna Wharf project also hoped to attract super yachts.
The reconstruction of Vuna Wharf was the first stage of a big tourism development plan, the second stage would be the development of a yachting marina and a shopping mall on reclaimed land next to the wharf.
Royal Palace
The other multi-million project that has been sub-contracted by CCECC to Fletcher is a $12 million pa'anga extension of the Royal Palace.
The extension of the palace and the reconstruction of Vuna Wharf will be funded from the $180 million government loan from the Exim Bank of China for the reconstruction of Nuku'alofa.
The Prime Minister said that the extension of the Palace was a Cabinet decision and "a responsibility of the nation".
The work on the extension had begun and was expected to be completed by November.
"After November the Privy Council will return to [meet at] the Palace where it used to be held. The Palace Office will return, so will the archives, the office of the Lord Chamberlain and the national registry for National Cards.
"When Vuna Wharf will be completed at the end of 2011, the Palace will be part of the whole establishment," he said.
The reconstruction of Vuna Wharf and the reclaimed land between Vuna and the Palace, though funded by government had been managed by the Port Authority, but now the project was managed by the Nuku'alofa Development Corporation, another government body.