Tin Can Island

They're Back, But High And Dry

Out On A Limb

Tonga’s north-western out r, Niuafo’ou, better known the world-at-large as Tin

m Island from its past mail

ndling history, is having its

oblems.

ALLOWING a volcanic eruption there back in 1946 the 1,300 in habitants were transferred to . Island in the south of the group. , for a variety of reasons not all ;hem were happy there. For one ig there was not enough land Eua for all to receive land allot ats according to the Tongan tern Others preferred the hotter late of the north, and others were ply homesick for the island where y were born. Only a portion of lafo’ou was affected by the erup i, so there was plenty of fertile d remaining there, but the Goy iment was reluctant to permit ; people to return in case of Dther eruption. Parties of copra rkers were, however, allowed to back on a temporary and rotat : basis.

rhe uprooted population came

der the care of the Niuafo’ou acuation Committee consisting of iresentatives of the people and

•tain government departmental

ads. Copra earnings from aafo’ou were administered by this mmittee and used for their re dlement, after the wages of the pra workers had been deducted.

Decision to Return In 1956, a group of the resettled ople made representations to the ivernment that they be permitted return to Niuafo’ou permanently, id in 1958 it was finally decided at they might do so. It was pro ved by the Committee that at first ily a few representatives of each mily should go back and establish od crops so that the community ould be self-supporting from the oment of its return, but the people ould not agree to this. They wished i go in a body.

This proved technically impossible lie to their numbers, but Uy they did return in two separate ayages of the new A’oniu at the ad of 1959, the entire group umbering 237 persons in 19 families,

plus horses, cattle, pigs, fowls, goate, dogs, cats, personal effects, build ing materials, and foodstuffs.

The returnees established them selves at the site of the former village of ’Esia, handy to the ship anchorage at Futu and well placed as regards concrete water-storage tanks.

Since then numbers have increased to about 300 and the situation is such that the people are now ask ing for Government services, such as a radio station, medical officer, school teachers, and similar services, none of which they had up to June of this year.

The Government’s attitude is re ported to be that the people re

turned to Niuafo’ou at their own insistence and against the wishes of the Government, though with Government permission. Therefore it is felt that these services should be financed by the people them selves or by Evacuation Committee funds.

Evidently something will have to be done in the way of providing these services very soon—one way or another.

Niuafo’ou’s only commercial valu able export is copra, the export quantities for recent years being: 1956, 170 tons; 1957, 243 tons; 1958, 152 tons. Periodic droughts effect production as elsewhere in Tonga.