His Excellency Mr. Yukio Numata, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Japan to the Kingdom of Tonga handed over the upgraded water supply system during a handover ceremony held from 11:00am at the Kolotolu Hall, Navutoka. Hon. Pohiva Tu'i'onetoa, People's Representative into Parliament for Tongatapu Constituency #10 and also Minister for Police Prison and Fire Service, and Minister for Commerce, Consumer, Trade, Innovation and Labour attended the ceremony along with Mr.Alipate Halatuituia, Navutoka's Village Chief and the people of Navutoka.
His Excellency Numata, congratulated the completion of the Project and emphasized his joy to celebrate its commissioning with the people of Navutoka. “Nowadays, we cannot just focus on economic development, but must also consider eco-friendliness and environmental sustainability for it is clear that environmental well-being directly affects all living things, including us”.
Hon. Pohiva Tu'i'onetoa thanked His Excellency for the generous assistance from the Government of Japan and reiterated that the assistance will not only benefit this generation, but the future generation of Navutoka village. The Navutoka Village Water Committee sought for Japan's assistance prioritizing efficient access and sufficient distribution of water to over 800 population living in village. (kindly refer to attached Project Factsheet for detail of assistance.)
Japan's Grant Assistance for Grass-Roots Human Security Projects was introduced in 1989 to response to various development needs in developing countries. The assistance epitomize Japan's commitment to support efforts by the People and the Government of Tonga to achieve its National Strategic Planning Framework, and also hope to strengthen the warm and close relations between the people and the Government of Japan and the people of the Kingdom of Tonga.
Handover ceremony at Navutoka Village
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