WELLINGTON (Pacnews) — A revised aid package for the ravaged Tongan capital Nuku’alofa will be announced after New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark meets Tongan Prime Minister Dr. Feleti Sevele in Auckland.
It will be the first time the pair have met since riots in Nuku’alofa in November left six people dead.
New Zealand immediately gave Tonga NZ$500,000 ($341,000) toward getting specialist help to plan the capital’s reconstruction.
The revised aid package would see the NZ$10.1 million ($6.8 million) aid budget for rebuilding small businesses.
New Zealand is not expected to set conditions but Clark is sure to seek assurances from Sevele about a timetable to establish democracy.
The riots were blamed on criminal elements and pro-democracy demonstrators frustrated at the lack of progress in a country where the monarch appoints the prime minister and cabinet.