A bridge in Tonga being built by a New Zealand construction company has hit a snag.
Construction on the 720-meter-long bridge across the Fanga’uta Lagoon in Tongatapu has slowed owing to a dispute with local landowners.
The two-lane crossing is funded by the Asian Development Bank and the World Bank at an estimated cost of $97 million USD, with New Zealand company McConnell Dowell constructing the bridge.
The work is slated to take around three and a half years to complete, and it will help communities relocate inland during disasters.
“I think the major concern with the people is that they’re not being treated fairly,” says Angus Naupoto, who is acting on behalf of a landowner who currently leases a four-acre site on the city side of the bridge that is needed for the project.
“Every time the government started negotiations to get their land for the bridge, I think it was done by 2010 or somewhere around there, they kept on quoting Sections 141 and 142 of the Land Act, which give authority to the government to take land for public interest,” he says.
The landowner holds a 20-year lease and has occupied the property for commercial purposes for the past eight years. However, they have had to hit the brakes on their own development due to the ongoing discussions with the government.
“At the end of the day, coming to right now, they have not [gotten] approval from the King to use or quote that piece of legislation. Now they have to negotiate directly with the people,” Naupoto says.
Prime Minister Lord Fakafanua says there are some “teething issues and technical matters” to resolve, but he is adamant the project will get the green light.
“Obviously, we’ve got some land matters to deal with, but that seems to be consistent across all projects. We need to resolve the land issues before we proceed.”
In the meantime the landowner is keen to see the matter resolved and is happy to go to court.
“We offered them an amount, and the government offered an amount, and then we wanted to push the government to take it to the court system so the court will decide,” Naupoto says.
The Fanga’uta bridge project is a vital connection. It will give residents east of Nukuaolofa an escape route across the lagoon and take pressure off the main route out via Taufā’ahau Road.
The 2022 Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai undersea volcanic eruption and subsequent tsunami exposed how vulnerable that area of Nukualofa is, with only one route out of the area.
