11-13-2007, 08:34 PM
By Emma O'Brien
Nov. 14 (Bloomberg) -- Tonga's economy is stagnating and the Pacific island nation's capital remains in ruins a year after rioting by pro-democracy demonstrators left businesses destroyed and eight people dead.
``Nothing has changed since the riots as the process of healing was never begun,'' Melino Maka, deputy chairman of the New Zealand-Pacific Business Council and a Tongan native, said in an interview from Auckland. ``It's holding Tonga back.''
About 80 percent of the central business district in the capital, Nuku'alofa, was damaged or destroyed in the Nov. 16 violence, sparked by the government delaying democratic changes. Troops and police from Australia and New Zealand were sent in briefly to help restore order.
Tonga's economy, which slowed in 2006, probably recorded zero growth this year because a lack of funds has stymied reconstruction, according to the Asian Development Bank. A state of emergency enacted after the violence is in force and Tongan soldiers and police still patrol Nuku'alofa. Tourism, the No. 2 source of income, dropped 30 percent after the unrest.
Most supermarkets, cafes, banks and stores razed in last November's fires lie vacant because their owners didn't have insurance and don't have the cash to rebuild, said Maka, who is also head of the New Zealand-based Tongan Advisory Council. ``The effects of the riots will impact on Tonga's economy for the next 10 years or more.''
View full story: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=e...enYUJg5uOA
Nov. 14 (Bloomberg) -- Tonga's economy is stagnating and the Pacific island nation's capital remains in ruins a year after rioting by pro-democracy demonstrators left businesses destroyed and eight people dead.
``Nothing has changed since the riots as the process of healing was never begun,'' Melino Maka, deputy chairman of the New Zealand-Pacific Business Council and a Tongan native, said in an interview from Auckland. ``It's holding Tonga back.''
About 80 percent of the central business district in the capital, Nuku'alofa, was damaged or destroyed in the Nov. 16 violence, sparked by the government delaying democratic changes. Troops and police from Australia and New Zealand were sent in briefly to help restore order.
Tonga's economy, which slowed in 2006, probably recorded zero growth this year because a lack of funds has stymied reconstruction, according to the Asian Development Bank. A state of emergency enacted after the violence is in force and Tongan soldiers and police still patrol Nuku'alofa. Tourism, the No. 2 source of income, dropped 30 percent after the unrest.
Most supermarkets, cafes, banks and stores razed in last November's fires lie vacant because their owners didn't have insurance and don't have the cash to rebuild, said Maka, who is also head of the New Zealand-based Tongan Advisory Council. ``The effects of the riots will impact on Tonga's economy for the next 10 years or more.''
View full story: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=e...enYUJg5uOA