Well, we knew that people were reading the National Geographic, and we were a little disappointed with their recent article on Tonga, so I guess it wouldn't have gone unnoticed that someone should extend a hand to correct some at least one or two of the suspected errors in the article.

Mayor Miller Sends Letter to King of Tonga

...

I enjoyed reading about Tonga in the November 2007 issue of National Geographic. It was with great interest that I learned about your country and its current struggles. May I also extend my condolences on the passing of your father, King Taufa'ahau Tupou IV.

In the article, you noted that America has a reputation for wealth and power, yet it also has poor people in inner cities and rural areas such as Lubbock, Texas. I was surprised to read the reference to our city, and felt compelled to contact you.

...

In Texas, there are a gazillion (as in a whole lot of them) Tongans. As I understand, the population of Tongans in Texas centres around the Dallas / Fort Worth due to previous adventures of the local governments to increase population and increase the work force.

The high schools in the area have their history pages filled with Tongan kids in their athletics / football programs.

As a student at the Fort Worth based Texas Wesleyan College (now University) I had a chance to visit with friends living in Lubbock. Texas is definitely a country of its own, and proud of it.

Going to Texas from Tonga, the car rides are definitely looonger to get places.

The Kele'a has some interesting write-ups this week.

* Why are QSC Ex-Students adamant / belligerent about buying a TOP$3million property that is obviously not worth the money, and they wish to put it to use that is already provided by many other services in Tonga.

* What is the disagreement between the Ministry of Finance and the Prime Ministers' Office that lead to the delay in this year's budget ? Did they really try to spruce up the damned economy ?

* Why is the President of the Free Wesleyan Church preaching holier than tow when everything points to the other with his own actions ? (Read: recent appointments)

You know it hurts when you give credit to the Kele'a for breaking news that should have been covered by the other mainstream papers, but they conveniently led slide ...

There's a strange thing about the Kava import restrictions (bans?) in Australia.

Apart from the fact that it seems the federal government is jumping on solving the symptom of the problem, to assuage public opinion against their inactions over the 'aborigine problem.' After all, the rampant alcohol abuse by aboriginal communities have not lead to bans of imports on alcohol, which has a world ready list of documentation on the damage it does to body and soul.

Let's just say that the Australian Government doesn't really want to bite the bullet and take the action required to resolve the actual problems of the people in aborigine communities. Kind of like the problem with Sydney's transport system.

But then again, Tongans crave for their own freedom to run their own country as they see fit. We have our own Sunday laws we do not want changed by outsiders and their own traditions. Let Australia set their own standards, just push them if you think it is wrong.

There is also the problem that some of the complainants, Kava Resellers/Importers, could probably be blamed for the current excess shown by some aborigines. After all, the Kava plants and their crushed cousins didn't take the nearest bus to Arnhem land, someone had to take it there and then demonstrate their wonderful qualities to the poor sods out there.

Let me here it again ? Who are the people suffering from not having Kava instead of Coffee ? Who are the people suffering from abuse of alcohol, soft drugs?

Photo courtesy of ThinkQuest Library entry on Samoans by Enchanted Lake Elementary School

I haven't been onboard a US Destroyer, and am unlikely to, but if we get lucky enough with the below invitation from the visiting US Destroyer John Paul Jones, that would be exciting stuff (to say the least.)

It's not as if the US haven't been visiting, as friendlies, for the longest time. It's just great to have a general invitation from a greater nation.

 It is a tremendous honor to be in Tonga on the 4th of July. Tonga and the United States have been allies in the Global War on Terrorism and in other coalition operations for many years. Just as the war for American independence required out forefathers to take a stand, Tongan and U.S. forces today are working together to fight oppression and tyranny. In celebration of the U.S. Independence Day, U.S. Ambassador Larry M. Dinger and I will host a reception for royal, government, and business leaders aboard JOHN PAUL JONES on the 4th. The evening promises to be a wonderful opportunity to make new friends and strengthen those friendships that already exist. It's also a perfect way for my officers and crew to showcase our great ship. Aside from the reception, we're all looking forward to experiencing all that Tonga has to offer.

-James J. Housinger, Commander, Commanding Officer USS John Paul Jones

We seem to be getting more information about the new rubbish collection service bestowed upon us by our illustrious, no hankey-pankey government.

It is only now that we seem to be getting informed that the TOP$10.00 a month fee is not voluntary, and that ALL households will be required to pay whether they use the service or not.

Tonga-Now: Trial rubbish collection service conducted

The service will cost each household TOP$10 and is a new compulsory charge under the Waste Management Act 2005. Each household will be charged for the service whether or not he/she makes use of it.

Seems to have been overlooked as an issue while they were promoting the new dump / rubbish pick-up.

When we first heard the news about the $10 monthly fee I thought that it was exceedingly generous and that the only way that they were going to make this profitable (i.e. make enough money to buy new trucks 'cause the roads are going to kill the trucks they are using now) is to somehow either get a majority of Tongatapu residents signed up, or force everyone to pay.

We were previously using a private firm, Waste Management Ltd, to pick up our rubbish at a cost of $8 pa'anga per pick-up, and now Government is going to pick-up my rubbish FOUR times a month for only $10 pa'anga a saving to me of ($8.00 x 4 - $10 = $22.00). Geezz living in Tonga is just getting cheaper!!

Visit bTonga

The devils in the details.

We finished last-weeks yap rounds with an evening of drinks at the Dupinisia Restaurant and Bar. As I recall, I was soo late that the entrees were already finished, and there wasn't anything after that except liquids.

It's a good thing we had a BBQ going at the house, even if I missed out on that one as well. This isn't looking so good.

Briefing

Subject: National ICT Strategy Development to Augment National Development

The National ICT Strategic Planning workshop brought together stakeholders from Government, Civil Society and the Private Sector. Workshop delegates assessed and initiated various policies, programmes, project proposals which they have committed to refining over the next four months. Likewise, Government is ensuring a minimal number of these projects are fully functional, at the launch of the National ICT direction scheduled for mid 2008.

Government having finalised our National Strategic Plan in 2006, have embedded significant ICT within capacity development, service development, and provisioning. In recognition of the interdependency between ICT and National Development, the Government of Tonga has long sought and accepted assistance for various ICT initiatives including the recent SOPAC sponsored e-Readiness Assessment, and the National ICT Strategic Planning workshops held with the assistance of the Commonwealth Secretariat.

Commitments from the Prime Minister and senior Government officials to workshop delegates have strengthened their resolve to pursue refinements of ICT Strategies for National Development. Although various Ministers continue pushing ICT as a significant enabler of National Development, the statements from the Prime Minister at the workshop was the first public direction to stakeholders

Participants have clearly identified human capacity retention and development as a core requirement for engaging the benefits of ICT. Several options are being investigated within the working groups targeting both long-term policies and short-term projects.

Augmenting the National Strategic Plan through ICT, six Working Groups have been formed from the workshop to refine ICT plans for: Education, e-Government, Homes and Communities, Industry, Legislation, Technology and Infrastructure.

“To ensure greater involvement of Civil Society and the Private Sector, Government must be a catalyst in the ICT arena.” says Alfred Soakai of the Department of Communications. “Government recognises and promotes long term economic growth must be led by Civil Society and the Private Sector, this Workshop is one of the initiatives of Government in the ICT field to move us all forward. We can do more, and bringing together all stake holders is an important beginning.”

The Department of Communications, again with assistance from the Commonwealth Secretariat continue to support and direct discourse.

Where to Now ?

Interested individuals and organisations are invited to participate in online discourse at the following addresses:

http://groups.google.com/group/tg-educ/ Education Working Group
http://groups.google.com/group/tg-egov/ e-Government Working Group
http://groups.google.com/group/tg-home/ Homes and Communities Working Group
http://groups.google.com/group/tg-indus/ Industry Working Group
http://groups.google.com/group/tg-legis/ Legislation Working Group
http://groups.google.com/group/tg-tech/ Technology and Infrastructure Working Group
The discussions are public, including various documents, directions related to each group.

Endnotes:

The Tonga Strategic Development Plan is available online at http://www.tonga-now.to/Article.aspx?ID=600

The Working Groups currently meet online using GoogleGroups.

It seemed at first that the freeze on parliamentary reports from the Tonga Broadcasting Commission was supposedly an internal matter, but according to the latest Pacnews report, there has also been a ban on recordings inside parliament which tends to support the view that Government forced the closure of the weekly program from TBC covering debates in parliament

TONGA BROADCASTER'S PARLIAMENT BAN CONTINUES

Thursday July 5, 2007, 4:01 pm

NUKUALOFA, July 5 Asia Pulse - The Tonga Broadcasting Commission (TBC) says it is still being prevented from covering parliament despite assurances from the government that a ban has been lifted.

The prime minister's office said a ban on the TBC's daily parliamentary reports has been lifted after a reporter apologised following complaints from cabinet ministers about a lack of balance.

But Katalina Tohi, the manager of Television Tonga and part of the TBC, said this was simply not true.

Ms Tohi told Radio Australia's Pacific Beat Programme it was extremely frustrating, especially for radio and television outlets which need audio and vision.

She said journalists are still unable to record the proceedings of parliament.

"We really don't understand, we get calls from people everywhere asking why aren't you doing the parliamentary reports," Ms Tohi said.

"But then there it is, you can't do anything."

The reporting of parliament by TBC staff has been on hold since 15 June.

(Pacnews)

Hard to know who to believe in anymore ? Well, what did you think, this is war! After-all, it is politics.

Tonga-Now to continue - Minister of Finance

5/07/2007 10:42:11 a.m.

Responding to the overwhelming reaction to the announcement of the closure of Tonga-Now, the Hon. Minister of Finance, Siosiua T.T. 'Utoikamanu, has reviewed his decision to allow Tonga-Now to continue to operate. The Minister has received extensive support messages and responses from Tongans and concerned individuals from both here and abroad for the need to keep the Tonga-Now website because it is a major source of information about the Kingdom.  The Minister has also instructed that it shall report in a non-biased and professional manner and to keep informing readers about the latest events in Tonga, particularly on economic and revenue reforms and related issues

It was a nice little bit of local drama, that further gave credence to Kele'a's current edition which accused there having been conflicts between the Prime Minister and the Minister of Finance. Seeing as how there is so much incredible articles in the Kele'a and their online partner TongaStar, it is hard to give them credit, but Tonga-Now.to being scheduled for closure sure put a lot of interest into the Kele'a's print.

Welcome back Tonga-Now.to, even if you hadn't left the building (anyone seen Elvis?)

I really think Tonga-Now is doing great service for the Government and People of Tonga. Keep up the high standard of reporting and give us enough information so we can make up our own minds about what is going on.

Revenue Services Department, elsewhere known as the blood sucking animal of Government or one of the two eventualities of life (death and taxes, but I'm not sure which one ?)

Revenue Services is pushing out a survey for their Consumption Tax 'partners' (those who earn enough to be taxed more) trying to get a feeling for how many would be willing to fill out their tax forms online.

Personally I would have hoped that Revenue would have had this in place for a few more meaningful (head-ache ridden sections) such as filling out those forms to get anything into the country.

But its a start.

Maybe next time you look into Tonga, all our Consumption Tax paying business will be submitting their forms online (except when they need the submission back-dated, so they'll take it in to the first cousin on their wife's best friend's mother's side.)

Go Tonga!!

I must have missed this one when it first came out, but when I finally saw it I thought how cool can this be.

The Talaki are purposely printing the mobile phone numbers for their reporters which seems to me to be the first time I've seen this in any newspaper. Of course, the scale of people and news is much smaller in Tonga but it sure looks cool that the Talaki want to reach out to their readership and for getting news leads as soon as possible.

When you have some local event happening, or just seen the latest accident speed-dial these guys/gals and get someone on the spot.

Way to go Talaki team.