The Tu’i’onetoa government has reversed a controversial decision to bury a Vava’u deceased in Tongatapu after strong reactions from the public and a request from her family.
The deceased, Natania Camellia Sanft, died in Fiji but since Tonga declared a national lockdown starting in March her body was held in the neighbouring country weeks after her death.
Sanft’s body had been finally repatriated early this week by His Majesty’s Armed Forces to Nuku’alofa.
Her parents, who were with her in Fiji studying under a Tonga government scholarship prgramme, weren’t allowed to travel with her body because of the Covid-19 restrictions.
The Minister of Health announced the deceased would be taken and buried by relatives in Tongatapu and not in her hometown Tu’anekivale in Vava’u.
The Minister reportedly said the decision was made according to the law which says the only borders allowed for vessels and aircraft from overseas during the Covid-19 lockdown were Fua’amotu in Tongatapu and capital Nuku’alofa.
However, the government went back on its decision and said in a press conference yesterday the deceased’s body will be returned and buried in Vava’u next week.
It said the gathering restrictions for funeral services still stood and the bereaved families were not allowed to mourn their dead.
Sanft’s funeral services would be all handled by government officials, it said.
The decisions met with mixed reactions from the public online.
Critics asked why the Voea Neiafu did not stop in Vava’u on its way back from Fiji to allow the deceased’s immediate family there to take her body home.
A number of critics said they felt for the deceased’s parents and that the government should have allowed them to bring their daughter home.
Some described the decisions as heart of stone.
However, a number of commenters said the Minister has made the right decision to protect the country as a whole from Covid-19.
