Tongans Should

Get A Wage

Increase Soon

From a Nukualofa correspondent T origans should soon get mot money in their pay packets—and no in the opinion of some, before timi Wages for civil servants, for instanc* stand at the rate agreed upon i 1958, although the cost of living he naturally continued to increase sine then.

The Tongan Government h£ agreed in principle to raise the cei ing of wages, and the Minister c Finance, Mahe Tupouniua, b( fore leaving for a world tour in lal August (he was to attend a semina on aid and trade in Britain and leadership course in the US) said tha be intended to discuss the repei cussions of a Tongan wage increas with financial experts in England an America.

The question was, he said, ho 1 Tonga could cope with the financii burden of a wage increase.

Mahe said that while in Britai he would discuss further planned d< velopment for Tonga along the lim of the present scheme, with emphas on transport, communications, agr culture, and fisheries.

He hoped to have discussions wit the British Ministry of Developmei on such priorities as the tourist hot expansion and the development c the Fua’amotu Airport to inte national standard. These two pr< jects, he said, were worthy of financii assistance, and they could strengthe the country’s economy.

During his stay in Britain, he wj to finalise negotiations for the pr< curement of the Tongan Goven ment residence in Sussex, where, is hoped, the King and Queen wi stay in December.

Back at Vavau ...

Meanwhile, Vavau’s clifftop ai strip, key to an internal air servi( for Tonga, has still not been grant* official approval, even though A Pacific has made eight landings ( the strip with Beech Baron aircraJ A spokesman for Air Pacific which expects to operate the regul air service—told PIM in late Se tember: “The strip is satisfactory fi (Beach Baron) aircraft”. The spoke man said that the UK Board Trade report, which branded the str as dangerous, contained “a lot ( inaccuracies”.