KEY POINTS:
The acres of concrete pads in downtown Nuku'alofa may soon be buzzing with reconstruction with the establishment of an $11 million fund to support building loans for business premises destroyed in last year's riots.
New Zealand has given $5 million and Australia $6 million for low-cost private sector loans to rebuild rental premises for some of the 160 businesses affected.
Prime Minister Helen Clark said in Tonga one reason reconstruction had been slow was a lack of affordable medium to large-scale loan finance needed for such projects.
The Tongan Government had sought the assistance.
By restoring commercial rental space, businesses would be able to get back up and running, stimulate economic recovery and provide more jobs, she said.
New Zealand has already given $2.5 million in aid and has led a youth diversion scheme after the riots. Former High Court Judge Eddie Durie and law expert Gabrielle Maxwell have been overseeing it.
NZ-Aid says of the 900 people arrested in November last year, 88 were under the age of 17.
Charges were dropped for half of them and in January 42 were referred for youth diversion. Seven people died in a fire during the riots.
Tonga's pro-democracy movement staged a protest rally over three days during this week's Pacific Islands Forum.
Public rallies are banned but they were held on private land in a conspicuous location on the main route to the airport.
They want democratic reforms introduced at elections next year rather than in 2010, the next scheduled election, as promised. The protesters were disappointed that Tongan democracy was not on the forum agenda.
Helen Clark said yesterday she thought the process for determining democratic reform in Tonga had been "a good and thorough one".
"We think both sides of the debate are focused on making it work. We haven't got involved in the issue of whether changes should be sped through Parliament now or not."
