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Tonga responds
I refer to your article entitled Can the Forum expel Fiji? which appears in the April 2007 edition of your magazine.
Of particular concern is the final paragraph of the portion of your article under the sub-heading Politicking which reads in part as follows: "A suggestion by the Tongan delegation that ministers condemn the Fiji coup was not adopted."
Quite simply, the Tongan delegation did not make any suggestion of the kind to which you refer to in your article. If truth be told, the initial draft outcome statement which delegations were presented with upon arrival in Port Vila contained a condemnation of the Fiji coup.
It must be pointed out that a number of Forum members including Tonga could not support such a reference hence, following further consultations and negotiation, the eventual consensus on the reiteration of profound concern‚.
I trust that you and your magazine will publicly (including your online edition) issue an immediate retraction and make the necessary apology for this error. Had you chosen to verify this particular matter with us before publication this situation would no doubt have been avoided. Instead, your error potentially gives rise to misunderstanding, confusion and ill will as to the position taken by the Tongan delegation in Port Vila.
The position of the Tongan Government as expressed by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hon. Sonatane Tu‚a Taumoepeau Tupou, in Port Vila was that whilst His Majesty‚s Government did not condone the events of 5 December 2006, given the complexities and nuances of the Fijian political situation, it was best left to the Fijian authorities to resolve by a return to the ballot box (and constitutional and democratic governance) with the relevant support and engagement of the Forum membership.
I trust that you will give this matter of concern your urgent and due attention. I look forward to hearing from you soonest.
Viliami Malolo
Deputy Secretary for Foreign Affairs
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Nuku'alofa, TONGA
Mega unified airspace
I would like to reply to the proposal of a unified airspace in the South Pacific to be established in Fiji as proposed by Mr George Faktaufon.
I am from Samoa and currently a graduate student at Embry Riddle Aeronautical University in the United States.
Please consider the following: Flying across the Pacific, crews have up to five air traffic managers they need to liaise with. It is better to talk and deal with 1000 air managers than talking to one and get into a crash. ATM systems located in places mentioned above are providing efficient services and eliminating potential problems from becoming disasters.
Having one ATM centralised in Fiji will cause not one but many problems. I don’t see the need to communicate with Fiji if traffic managers in Samoa can do the job. I don’t see the need to communicate with New Zealand if the traffic manager in Tonga can do it.
Safety is another major important issue that we must consider. I would like to ask each Pacific Islands leader to conduct a thorough search and investigation before they agree to this matter. It is imperatively important that qualified traffic managers are fully trained and are schoolled specifically to handle the duties of this job.
As mentioned by your magazine, Fiji had controlled the airspaces of Samoa and Tonga, but due to some financial disagreement, Samoa and Tonga decided to move to New Zealand. Why should they come back to Fiji when it cheated them of millions of dollars in the beginning?
I agree airlines are very interested in the efficient management of airspace. That is why a centralised operation should be set up in Australia or New Zealand. Employees will be diverse and an honest distribution of funds done accurately.
“I don’t see the point of having only one ATS (air traffic service) provider of upper airspace management in the Pacific region to be selected through a tender process.
Mr Faktaufon, you talk as if the islands people have no clue what technologies can do.
A cost-benefit approach needs to be adopted to identify the benefits to states from a unified airspace management.
Numbers are important and we would like to know how on earth the Pacific islands are saving money by having just one ATM system in Fiji.
Lack of information to support your proposal worries me about the safety of an ATM system to be established in Fiji.
—Joseph Tautaiolefue Pisa Patterson
Beverly Hills
United States
Healthy concern
“Health Crisis” is the first issue of Islands Business I have seen. When I noticed the cover, I thought for a moment that I was looking at a racist magazine of some sort! I was equally shocked to see that no, this is a news periodical published out of the Pacific Islands!
I am reminded of the sambo character that have shamed this country since shortly after the arrival of White Europeans.
While articles are well written, it is difficult to get past such an awful caricature.
And given that, it is difficult to feel I am reading news from native islanders’ point of view, but rather white people who are continuing to extract money from every country they can.
—Alyx Webber
United States
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