Princess Lātūfuipeka Angelika Halaevalu Mataʻaho Tukuʻaho has revealed her development plan for the town of Pea in Tongatapu.
Pea is one of his father’s, His Majesty’s King Tupou VI, estates.
The princess met with the Pea residents in New Zealand on Friday.
She made it clear that the meeting was aimed at sharing her ideas with her kāinga as a starting point for a plan to develop the town with help from people living overseas.
According to Anna Cullen, one of the Peans who attended the meeting, the Princess planned to build a community hall for the kāinga.
The eldest daughter of the king also wanted to reconstruct the town’s roads and roads to people’s tax allotments.
She also wanted to initiate a project to look at the swamp areas in the town.
Cullen said the Princess was concerned at the swampy condition of the township because when it rained heavily school children could not get in and out of the primary school because the roads were completely flooded.
As a result, the school programmes had to move to the Catholic hall at the centre of the town until the flooded roads were cleared.
The flooding also damaged the school buildings and school materials.
The Princess, who is a graduate of the Australian National University, told the meeting the project could be a milestone for those Peans who are willing to assist.
She said they might be very happy when they come to Tonga to see the project and how it could beautify the township.
The Princess’s development project will cost an estimated NZ$70,000 (TP$111,000) the meeting was told.
She said youth groups in Pea had begun fundraising to help the project.
Presentation
The meeting was formal and the kāinga’s cultural duty of giving thanks for the presence of an important person was performed for the Princess.
This included presenting bouquet of flowers, puaka toho (big hog) and sila including laulau kakala the use of poetic language by the heralds to show appreciation and gratitude.
The meeting was regarded as enjoyable and was attended by Peans in Auckland, Wellington and Katikati.
Residents from Lavaka’s (Pea’s noble title which is currently held by the king) other surrounding estates, such as Fualu, Kahoua and Lomaiviti, also attended.
Cullen said the Princess was elated to see more than 100 people attend the meeting.
“She was sometimes emotional and tearful and sometimes laughing while she presented her plan on power points”, Cullen said.
The Princess showed great enthusiasm for her project to develop the township and she wanted to see a really different Pea, Cullen said.
She said those at the meeting were especially appreciative for the Princess’s willingness to step down to the level of her Pea people so they could work together to do something for the betterment of the township.
An action committee will be set up in New Zealand to work on the Princess’s project, Cullen said.
The main points
- Princess Latufuipeka Angelika Mata’aho has revealed her development plan for the town of Pea in Tongatapu.
- Pea is one of his father’s, His Majesty’s King Tupou VI, estates.
- The princess met with the Pea residents in New Zealand on Friday.
- The Princess’s development project will cost an estimated NZ$70,000 (TP$111,000) the meeting was told.
