Results for Development

The Nuku'alofa waterfront has a new look as a major $66 million pa'anga upgrade of the domestic wharf nears completion for commissioningin February. The project was funded under Japan's grant-aid to Tonga.

A group of 23 United States Peace Corps volunteers were sworn-in today, at the Epworth Hall, Nuku'alofa, before they take up assignments teaching English in primary and secondary schools in Tongatapu and some of the outer islands.

Folaha residents celebrated having access to clean water thanks to a Japanese Government project that upgraded their deteriorating water supply system, with the installation of a new solar power water pump unit set, a new tank stand, a new water tank and fence around the solar and pump house systems.

Medical supplies, plough tractors, water storage tanks and educational material and toys for children, donated to Tonga by the local government of Dongguan, a city in the Guangdong Province of China, were received by Tonga's Deputy Prime Minister at a ceremony held yesterday in Nuku’alofa.

An instrument that can detect levels of pesticides present in food such as vegetables was among key equipment from Japan worth more than $2 million pa’anga, handed over to three government ministries today, June 21.

The Asian Development Bank has approved a $2.75 million loan and a $2.25 million grant to help Tonga strengthen it’s long-term economic growth prospects, while supporting and developing its capacity to respond to external economic shocks.

Tonga's population has declined since 2011 and for the first time in 30 years there are more females than males in Tonga, especially on Tongatapu, according to the 2016 Population Census preliminary data released by the Statistics Department recently. Single women looking for a husband may need to eye the outer island groups of Vava’u, Ha’apai, the Niuas and ‘Eua where the census records 216 more males than females across these islands.

Nearly half a million pa’anga was committed by the Government of Japan on 27 February, to fund three projects aimed to improve the quality of life of people from the grassroots level, and includes the upgrading of a technical course classroom building at Tonga College, installing a flake ice machine with water tanks for ‘Uiha and Felemea in Ha'apai and two new ambulances for 'Eua and Ha'apai.

Improvements to Nuku'alofa's roads and drainage, under a successful multi-million project started in 2008, are "less than likely to be sustainable" if they are not properly maintained, warns a report released by the Asian Development Bank. "There is a lack of evidence that the government has recognised the importance of maintenance of the improved assets," the report concluded.