Results for Tonga

Neiafu bowsers have run out of petrol again today, forcing the Vava’u tourist industry into crisis control at the height of the tourist season, and crippling the local economy. Vava’u has not seen a fuel barge arrive in nearly a month and only a trickle of petrol is getting through. Dozens of vehicles remained queued at an empty petrol station in Neiafu this afternoon, waiting in hope for a whiff of fuel.

Some 22.5% of Tonga’s population - or over 23,200 people live below the national poverty line, according to the Asian Development Bank's latest statistics released yesterday. The high cost of living as well as lack of access to basic infrastructure, services and utilities and the lack of employment or opportunities to generate income make it difficult for people to meet their basic needs.

Tonga’s second Court of Appeal sitting today dismissed an appeal filed by a letter writer to the Kele’a newspaper, the Kele'a, and two others in a defamation case that awarded judgment against them when they were ordered to pay more than $200,000 in damages and costs after they were found guilty of defamation in 2013.

A 24-year-old man died on impact when the truck he was driving crashed into a tree in front of the Hu’atolitoli Prison compound early Saturday morning, 10 September.

The MV Maggie Cat's new inter-island ferry which can carry 260 passengers to Vava’u and Ha’apai has made three trips so far since it began on 31 August, but none has been full due to low demand.

Chief Justice O. G. Paulsen has reserved his ruling on an application for an Injunction and a Judicial Review of a decision by the Minister for Infrastructure and Tourism, Hon Semisi Sika in June 2016, to remove the Chairman and a Director of the Tonga Tourism Authority Board.

David Tilton on Facebook said: Why not start now? I'm tired of bags of filthy nappies being dropped off on our road. Why can't those bags be picked up in the weekly trash? Why do people feel compelled to drop off their filth in someone else's neighborhood?

New Zealand is celebrating Tonga Language Week from September 4-10 focusing on observing how Tongan culture has shaped the country. The theme this year is ‘Fakakoloa ‘a Aotearoa ‘aki ‘a e Loto’i Tonga’ – Enriching Aotearoa with the Tongan Spirit.

The Vendémiaire, a surveillance frigate of the French Navy from Noumea was in Nuku’alofa this week on a goodwill visit that included conducting joint training exercises with the Tonga Navy and donated french reading books to the French Learning Centre.