Results for Tonga

Tonga’s repayment of its $119 million pa'anga loan from the EXIM Bank of China for the reconstruction of the Nuku‘alofa Central Business District has been deferred for another five years.

A 16-year-old boy who assaulted and robbed a Chinese shopkeeper in February this year was discharged without conviction by a Supreme Court judge on November 26 in Nuku'alofa who considered that: “a conviction for such a serious offence as robbery will be far more detrimental than the injury and theft he committed to the complainant."

This month 100 years ago, the Kingdom of Tonga was in a state of distress and alarm after a deadly influenza virus reached its shores, infecting most of the population and killing between 1,000 to 2,000 people (an estimated 4 – 8% of the population at the time) between November 1918 and January 1919. The mahaki faka‘auha - the disease that kills, brought Tonga to a standstill. By Eleanor Gee and Finau Fonua.

Six contestants in the 2018 Miss Pacific Islands looked radiant on November 30 as they paraded on colourful floats through central Nuku’alofa.

A Maritime Search and Rescue Exercise led by Tonga Police and supported by key partners on November 26, aimed to test weaknesses and strengths in a Tonga National Search and Rescue Plan, in response to a ferry sinking scenario.

Thirty-five water tanks have been installed on the small island of ‘Atata located just off Tongatapu, helping around 200 people access a clean water supply on the island that has encountered water problems in recent years.

Two men have been charged with manslaughter in relation to the death of a 19-year-old male teen on November 26 at Vaiola Hospital.

The University of the South Pacific-Tonga campus welcomed HM King Tupou VI for the commissioning of their new Kukū Kaunaka Collection of academic theses by Tongan scholars, in a closed event on November 14. In a statement, USP said: “It was indeed a most humbling and significant event as Tonga USP staff marked the 50th anniversary of the USP service in the region and in Tonga.”

Using fabric bags and kato ‘oa (coconut woven baskets) as alternatives to single use plastics is the aim of a No Pelesitiki Campaign launched in Tonga on November 26, with the support of Queen Nanasipau‘u.