2 Apr 2004

Naturalisation clears way for Tongan publisher

3:27 pm on 2 April 2004

The Publisher of Vava'u Press in Tonga, which produces three magazines, says the long process of gaining a licence has cost him financially.

Pesi Fonua has been granted a licence after filing three different applications over a period of nearly three months.

The approval came after Mr Fonua's wife, Mary Fonua, became a naturalised citizen to comply with laws that demands at least 80 percent of a publication is Tongan-owned.

Mr Fonua says he cannot understand why the process took so long and he says the government obviously doesn't understand good business practices.

He says the licensing process has been damaging for his company.

"A lot of money has been lost on this unnecessary exercise, the licence has been withheld for all this time and actually put us out of business and stopped business because of that. A lot of money's been lost, a lot of confidence of clients and customers and it will take us some time to actually restore that confidence."

Pesi Fonua.