Results for Tonga

The last time a Tongan solo-mother of five, saw her 17 year old son, who is doing time for burglary, she was horrified. The inmate called her on May 8 to come to the Vaiola Hospital, in Nuku‘alofa, where Prison authorities had taken him for emergency treatment for severe burns. From Matangi Tonga Magazine Vol. 17, no. 2, August 2002.

The quarry business, particularly on Tongatapu, is a thriving but very competitive business according to Sione Tafolo of the Fasi‘apule Holding Ltd. who says that it is an on-going task for people who live in the low-lying areas to keep filling up their properties. From Matangi Tonga Magazine Vol. 17, no. 2, August 2002.

In going to press, Mr Justice A. D. Ford in the Supreme Court of Tonga heard final submissions On August 1, in the civil case against the Tonga Government and the Minister of Police for unlawful imprisonment of a Member of Parliament, and two local journalists. From Matangi Tonga Magazine Vol. 17, no. 2, August 2002.

When a new mobile phone provider, Tonfön (Shoreline Communications) launched its telephone service on July 31, Tonga became the only Pacific island country to allow two competing telecommunications companies. From Matangi Tonga Magazine Vol. 17, no. 2, August 2002.

Tonga’s Prime Minister announced on February 14 that there was a serious turn in Tonga’s relationship with New Zealand in the wake of unsubstantiated accusations made by New Zealand’s foreign ministry. The Prime Minister Prince ‘Ulukalala Lavaka Ata believed that a New Zealand Ministerial attack which ridiculed the Tongan government and Tonga’s Royal family was an attempt to influence Tonga’s March General Election, and “to take the moral high ground, to say they are holier than us, and to dictate to other countries what New Zealand wants”. Prince ‘Ulukalala Lavaka Ata was responding to the accusations at a press conference he called in Nuku‘alofa. From Matangi Tonga Magazine Vol. 17, no. 1, May 2002.

Tonga’s Human Rights record for 2001 was generally poor, according to the USA Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labour. From Matangi Tonga Magazine Vol. 17, no. 1, May 2002.

The German adventurer, Captain Burghard Pieske, and another German master boat builder, Kieter Brummer visited Tonga at the end of April, at the start of what they hope will become a great adventure. From Matangi Tonga Magazine Vol. 17, no. 1, May 2002.

Tonga’s team for the South Pacific Games in Fiji next year will receive support worth $20,000, which has been pledged by the Managing Director of Colonial Insurance, Mike Walsh. From Matangi Tonga Magazine Vol. 17, no. 1, May 2002.

Tongans responded with shock and outrage after the New Zealand Foreign Ministry publicly accused the Tongan government of corruption, expressing concern about the state of democracy in the country and saying that the Tongan government appeared reluctant to introduce constitutional changes. From Matangi Tonga Magazine Vol. 17, no. 1, May 2002.