More than four years on from one of the most powerful volcanic eruptions in history, Tonga is struggling to improve its infrastructure as it pays off a massive Chinese loan.
When Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai erupted on Jan. 15, 2022, the blast could be heard as far away as Alaska and sent a powerful tsunami crashing into Tonga’s main island about 65km away, killing three people.
Hundreds of homes were destroyed, businesses flattened and roads washed out, while most water supplies were left undrinkable as 15.24cm of ash fell on the Tongan islands.
Photo:AFP
Tongan Prime Minister Lord Fatafehi Fakafanua last month said that most government programs to rebuild were complete, but conceded there were “some leftovers” his government needed to finish.
The damage caused by the tsunami remains obvious in parts of Tonga.
Debris from homes and businesses knocked down by the waves remains scattered near beaches on Tongatapu’s west coast, and on the nearby ‘Eua island, tourists are encouraged to bring cash with them from the capital, Nuku’alofa, as automated teller machines and banking services have not been restored.
As much as Lord Fakafanua might want to address the issues, he said his government has stopped taking loans.
Budget documents show a US$67.36 million loan owed to the Export–Import Bank of China, taken out to rebuild Nuku’alofa’s central business district after riots in 2006.
The initial loan, taken out in 2008, was for US$55 million, but with interest, the debt reached more than US$100 million by 2024.
Tonga’s government has committed to paying down its debt by 2030, and in the year to June last year, it paid China US$17.7 million as part of total debt repayments of US$29.4 million.
The repayments represent a large share of government spending in the small nation where the annual infrastructure budget was just US$10.1 million. The health budget for the same year was US$24.9 million, boosted by one-off funding provided by donors, including New Zealand and Australia, to redevelop Nuku’alofa’s hospital and nursing buildings.
The health budget is expected to be significantly lower this year, despite the country’s dire rates of obesity, diabetes and noncommunicable diseases.
“We could use that money for other things,” Lord Fakafanua said, when asked if the debt to China hurt Tonga’s health and infrastructure needs. “But Tonga committed to signing a loan agreement, and we intend to pay off what we signed to do.”
While Tonga shows fiscal restraint, China wants to spread its influence in the Pacific by offering loans and building infrastructure.
During a November visit to Beijing by Tongan King Tupou VI, President Xi Jinping (習近平) said that China was ready to “provide assistance to Tonga’s economic and social development” and said he wanted Tonga’s “independence and sovereignty” to be safeguarded.
Lord Fakafanua said his country would not be accepting any more Chinese loans.
“We’re currently in a position where we’re not taking any more loans, we’re not taking any more debt,” he said.
“We’re being a lot more clever with our fiscal management,” he added.
The country faces significant risk from its loan to China, with “refinancing risk and exchange rate risk being the primary concerns,” according to Tonga’s budget documents.
The IMF said Tonga is at high risk of debt distress.
Tonga has received several grants from the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank to build much-needed infrastructure.
That includes the US$97 million Fanga’uta Lagoon Bridge project currently under construction — the largest infrastructure project in Tonga’s history.
The 720m-long bridge would connect Nuku’alofa with the southern side of the main island, Tongatapu.
More than 120 Tongans are working on the project, which would provide a new evacuation path for Nuku’alofa in the event of a tsunami or flooding caused by tropical cyclones.
New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon viewed the bridge site during his two-day visit to Tonga last month, speaking to the New Zealand firm McConnell Dowell, which is building the bridge.
Luxon said he supports Tonga’s focus on fiscal restraint, and it “goes without saying” that New Zealand was ready to help when needed.
PHISHING: The con might appear convincing, as the scam e-mails can coincide with genuine messages from Apple saying you have run out of storage For a while you have been getting messages from Apple saying “your iCloud storage is full.” They say you have exceeded your storage plan, so documents are no longer being backed up, and photos you take are not being uploaded. You have been resisting Apple’s efforts to get you to pay a minimum of ￡0.99 (US$1.33) a month for more storage, but it seems that you cannot keep putting off the inevitable: You have received an e-mail which says your iCloud account has been blocked, and your photos and videos would be deleted very soon. To keep them you need
For two decades, researchers observed members of the Ngogo chimpanzee group of Kibale National Park in Uganda spend their days eating fruits and leaves, resting, traveling and grooming in their tropical rainforest abode, but this stable community then fractured and descended into years of deadly violence. The researchers are now describing the first clearly documented example of a group of wild chimpanzees splitting into two separate factions, with one launching a series of coordinated attacks against the other. Adult males and infants were targeted, with 28 deaths. “Biting, pounding the victim with their hands, dragging them, kicking them — mostly adult males,
The Israeli military has demolished entire villages as part of its invasion of south Lebanon, rigging homes with explosives and razing them to the ground in massive remote detonations. The Guardian reviewed three videos posted by the Israeli military and on social media, which showed Israel carrying out mass detonations in the villages of Taybeh, Naqoura and Deir Seryan along the Israel-Lebanon border. Lebanese media has reported more mass detonations in other border villages, but satellite imagery was not readily available to verify these claims. The demolitions came after Israeli Minister of Defense Israel Katz called for the destruction of
SUPERFAN: The Japanese PM played keyboard in a Deep Purple tribute band in middle school and then switched to drums at university, she told the British rock band Legendary British rock band Deep Purple yesterday made Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s day with a brief visit to their high-profile superfan as they returned to the nation they first toured more than half a century ago. Takaichi’s reputation as an amateur drummer, and a fan of hard rock and heavy metal has been well documented, and she has referred to Deep Purple as one of her favorite bands along with the likes of Black Sabbath and Iron Maiden. “You are my god,” a giddy Takaichi said in English to Deep Purple drummer Ian Paice, presenting him with a set of made-in-Japan
RSS