Results for Development

In a last minute change of plans, Pangai Si'i, the home for thousands of striking Civil Servants during the past month, has been declared by Tonga's Royal family as the new site for a Tongan National Museum that was originally to be built at Raintree Square with assistance from France.

An assessment of Hardship and Poverty in Tonga, which was carried out jointly by the Government of Tonga and the Asian Development Bank in 2003, stated that 23% of the 16 communities surveyed in Tongatapu, Ha'apai, Vava'u, 'Eua, Niuatoputapu and Niuafo'ou, were living below the poverty line of $28.18 per person per week.

The saying that when the going gets tough, the tough keep going, is very true with the Nuku‘alofa business community. From Matangi Tonga Magazine Vol. 18, no. 3, December 2003.

The Hon. Marian Hobbs, the New Zealand Minister for the Environment and the Associate Minister of Education, said in Nuku‘alofa in early October that Tonga and New Zealand had one common problem, a lack of trades-people. From Matangi Tonga Magazine Vol. 17, no. 3, November 2002.

Tonga’s membership with the WTO is seen as a bench-mark for the success of the government’s Economic Reform Program, that was officially launched in April this year. This economic reform is aimed at energising Tongan industries, offering more employment opportunities, and producing quality products to compete in the world market. Paula Kautoke said that the principle of WTO is for countries to exploit their advantages. From Matangi Tonga Magazine Vol. 17, no. 3, November 2002.

New Zealand signed its annual multi-million dollar bilateral aid agreement with Tonga in July, a package worth NZ$5.6 million, the same amount allocated the previous year. From Matangi Tonga Magazine Vol. 17, no. 2, August 2002.

When HM King Taufa‘ahau Tupou IV unveiled a plaque to mark the beginning of a $9 million upgrading and expansion of the International Dateline Hotel on December 22, it also marked the first investment in Tonga by a Chinese company, the Janfull Investments Ltd. - Matangi Tonga Magazine, Vol. 16, no. 3, December 2001.

Tonga’s landless grow in number while an increasing number of town allotments and uncultivated farmlands are left vacant by migrants. From Matangi Tonga Magazine, Vol. 16, no. 2, September 2001.

Twenty-five years ago it was estimated that 6,000 males over the age of 16 years had no land. Today, the number of landless Tongans has swelled to over 10,000. The number will continue to increase, as it is no longer possible for estate owners and government to give land to every 16-year-old Tongan, as required by the Land Act of 1903. From Matangi Tonga Magazine, Vol. 16, no. 2, September 2001.