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Pacific Islands Report
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Posted on May 04 2000
Tonga in economic trouble
NUKU’ALOFA, Tonga-The kingdom is in desperate financial trouble and may not survive economically for much longer, according to former Prime Minister Baron Vaea.
In an interview with Matangi Tonga magazine, Vaea also indicated that Tonga is in danger of facing large-scale out migration soon.
The head of Tonga’s opposition and human rights democracy movement, Akilisi Pohiva, said although Vaea should be commended for his honest statements, the former prime minister should have revealed the financial situation when he was still in office.
“He didn’t have the moral courage to speak up when he was prime minister,” said Pohiva. “(Vaea) should have made it known to the public that the government is moving toward bankruptcy.”
Protest marches harm Fiji investments
SUVA, Fiji Islands-Protest marches will harm the country’s image and reduce international investments, said Prime Minister Mahendra Chaudhry.
His comments followed an anti-government protest march by the opposition SVT party and the nationalist Taukei movement over the weekend and an early Taukei march in the second city of Lautoka.
Protestors called for the dissolution of the country’s 11-month old government, over issues including policies on land, the constitution and race.
Chaudhry said the protests could keep investors away and cause a loss of jobs.
Bad weather involved in fatal PNG crash
PORT MORESBY, Papua New Guinea-Bad weather probably was a factor in Saturday’s fatal plane crash, killing four in the northern province of Marobe.
Air safety investigators said the Britten Norman Islander passenger plane crashed on take-off, after it failed to clear trees at the end of the remote Bapi airstrip. Bad weather in the area restricted visibility at the time.
Three Papua New Guinean passengers, including a four-year-old girl, were killed. The pilot, New Zealander Hayden Gibbs, also died in the crash. (Pacific Islands Report)
