Results for Letters

I am a Tongan woman married to a non-Tongan man and I cannot get Tongan passports for my children who were born in Tonga and another country in the 1990s. The amendments to the Nationality Act 2007 apply only to those born on or after 14 September 2007, in short, the amendments are not retrospective. I have been told by Tongan Immigration officers that for my children to get Tongan passports, they will have to go through the process of 'naturalization'. - Tupou Taiamoni Finau.

Please, Bainimarama, Please, the ball is in the Tongan's side of the court, but the delay in returning the ball with a forehand needs someone with strong guts. Getting rid of the Wildcat is doable, but we need a Brave Mouse to hang the bell on to the cat's neck. - Dr Fotu K.V. Fisi'iahi.

In the early morning hours of 16 June 2011, Tonga will experience another lunar eclipse. That is just the moment that the moon sets and the sun rises. The total eclipse, running from 8:22 to 10:22, therefore happens in the morning when it is daylight and nothing is to be seen. - Firitia Velt.

I read in the Matangi Tonga that the former Fiji military strongman Ratu Tevita Mara "wants a democratic government back in Fiji". Although I would like to see a return to democratic rule in Fiji, I will not be joining any opposition of which Ratu Mara is a part. - Rajend Naidu.

Bainimarama made a televised statement claiming that Tonga had breached Fijian Sovereignty. Remember, breaching a country's sovereignty involves international law. Accusations must be proven, diplomatic channels must be exhausted and above all, the rights of a person must be respected whether chief or commoner . . . - Fredetheon Kava.

The extraction of Ratu Tevita Mara from within Fiji waters is a game-changer. If your navy is patting itself on the back at such audacity, then they should realise that breaching territorial waters is nothing, but what they have done will have implications well into the future between our two countries. - Mareko Vuli.

The hike in the price of fuel is blamed on a drop in the value of the Tongan pa'anga against the US dollar. Not true. - Firitia.

Mr. Public wants to see a published list of the directors' salaries, and on down to the meter-person. Have they been offered salary reductions, early retirements, etc., to reduce labor costs? A comparison of those salaries to the public sector's comparable wages should shed some light on how efficient and cost-conscious TPL's management is. - Sione Akemeihakau Mokofisi.

I fear for the future of my adopted country when, after four years of supposed progress, it seems like nothing has really changed. I pray my pessimism is unfounded, and indeed that these elections will usher in a new government and a better future for Tonga. However, from a distance, it seems like the power remains in familiar hands, and that these hands have and will continue to be self serving, without the accountability that elected officials must show. - Scott Yurcheshen.