“Launching of the Tapanekale Project”

25 January 2023

The Prime Minister Honorable Hua’akavameiliku officially launched the “Tapanekale Project”, a milestone event addressing eradication of poverty here in Tonga, at the Fa’onelua Convention Center on the 25th of January, 2024.

The Tapanekale Project is an affordable housing program targeting the 3.1 percent extreme poverty group according to the Poverty Report from the Tonga Statistics Department. The Government of Tonga has allocated TOP$1 million to initiate the project and this event was launched with 9 families to start with, out of a total of 270 households identified in the extreme poor category.

The selection of the beneficiaries of this project is based on a clear criteria and process. This process includes the collaboration between 6 relevant government ministries1. The utilization of the Tonga National Census 2021 and a Verification Survey 2023 from Tonga Statistics are key statistics in the selection process. These official statistics provide the 13 criteria mainly on the characteristics of households being identified in the extreme poverty category. Government further verifies land ownership before confirming the beneficiary. This is an ongoing project of the Government.

The event was attended by Cabinet Ministers of the Government, Chief Executive Officers, staff from ministries and most importantly, the first group of beneficiaries of this project.

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