Results for Tonga

A donation of disability equipment, including wheelchairs, was presented by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints to the Vaiola Hospital in Tongatapu yesterday, 26 March 2025. The equipment will help to replace the wheelchairs that have gone missing from the wards at the Hospital, where they are needed for disabled patients. It is the fourth such donation the church has made to the hospital.

Australia and Tonga have agreed to an AUD85 million (TOP125 million) budget support program over the next four years to support a stronger economy and national budget. “This is the largest investment in our partnership’s history,” stated a joint announcement yesterday, on the margins of the Special Forum Economic Ministers Meeting (FEMM) in Nuku'alofa.

Viliami Makahokovalu Tuputupu, the former captain of Tonga's inter-island domestic ferry, the MV ‘Otuanga’ofa, who is serving two years in prison, had his appeal against his sentence dismissed by a Supreme Court judge, who upheld the original sentence, emphasizing the need for public safety and adherence to regulations.

A 60-year-old shop owner, Qiwu Huang, will be sentenced next month for receiving stolen property, including iPhones valued up to $14,000 pa‘anga,

The Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) Economic Ministers and officials are meeting in Nuku'alofa today, for a Special Forum Economic Ministers Meeting (FEMM). Among other things, they will discuss the establishment of the Pacific Resilience Facility, the first Pacific-led, member-owned and managed and people-centred climate and disaster resilience financing facility, which will be headquartered in Tonga.

It is essential for the Government to secure its own financial resources in order to strengthen long-term development capacity, Japan's Ambassador to Tonga, HE Inagaki Hisao, told the National Development Summit on Friday. Panelists from the diplomatic corps of New Zealand, Australia, Japan, and China in Tonga talked about Collaboration and Partnership, duringt the final session of the summit on 21 March, at the Fa’onelua Convention Center in Nuku'alofa.

Simaima Vaha’i (33) was sentenced to 12 months probation for stealing a mobile phone worth $715.84 from her employer, Digicel Tonga in Vava’u. Initially pleading not guilty to a larger theft charge, she later changed her plea to guilty for the theft of a Samsung Galaxy A34, leading to the discharge of the first count against her.

Finau Pomale (48) is serving a 12-month sentence for cultivating 79 cannabis plants, weighing 33.07 grams, at a bush allotment in Fatai.

Tonga urgently needs an illicit drugs rehabilitation centre due to the rising number of drug users, said Head Psychiatrist Dr. Mapa Puloka and counsellor Mele Prescott at the National Development Summit session on “Security and Illicit Drugs” at Fa'onelua Convention Centre. "Previous governments have been asked for this," said Dr. Puloka.