Tonga invites Elon Musk to Pacific Leaders Summit

photo: Beata Zawrzel / NurPhoto Image credit: AFP

Billionaire entrepreneur, SpaceX founder and Tesla CEO Elon Musk has been invited to attend a meeting of key political leaders from the Pacific region later this month.

RNZ Pacific has learned Musk, who also owns social media platform X, has been invited by the Tongan government to attend the 53rd Pacific Islands Leaders’ Meeting from August 26 to 30.

RNZ Pacific has contacted Tonga’s Prime Minister Hu’akavameiliku Siaosi Sovaleni for comment.

Following the February 2022 eruption and tsunami of the Honga-Tonga Honga-Hai-Pai volcano, Musk Lend a helping hand Donate internet terminals through SpaceX and Starlink emergency satellite services.

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is currently In the Internet Crisis The June 29 earthquake damaged its underwater cables.

As a result, there is little to no internet connectivity on the outer islands of Ha’apai and Vava’u.

The government has Obtaining a temporary license Musk’s Starlink will operate for six months.

Prefabricated homes made from shipping containers are being constructed on Vaha’akolo Road in Kolofo’ou, close to the National Pension Benefits Fund building.
photo: MOI / Nuku’alofa, Tonga

Repair work on damaged undersea cables at two outlying islands has been delayed after a specialised maintenance vessel broke down en route from Singapore.

Hu’akavameiliku Siaosi Sovaleni told New Zealand’s Pacific Radio earlier this month that the time it would take for the internet to be fully restored depended on the scale of damage to the undersea cables.

“We only have a limited length of cable for repairs, so we’ll have a better idea when the ship arrives,” he said.

The ship remained stranded in Suva until last week, with Hu’akavameiliku saying: “If the cable is longer than what we have, then it will take longer to repair. But if the cable is within the length we have, then we can repair it.”

Meanwhile, Matangi, Tonga Reported Hu’akavameiliku is confident that by Friday, 140 prefabricated container homes will be built in and around Nuku’alofa.