20 Mar 2012

Tonga church preparing for late King's funeral

11:27 am on 20 March 2012

The Free Wesleyan Church in Tonga is preparing for the funeral for King George Tupou the fifth.

Tonga's cabinet has established a committee to arrange the funeral and the kingdom's official mourning period.

The cabinet minister Lord Ma'afu is to head to Hong Kong to confer with the new King and his entourage about details around bringing the body of the late King home, and to get more details about what happened.

The church's general secretary, Tevita Havea, says the congregation was still trying to come to terms with the death.

"As far as preparation is concerned, the president of te church is responsible for drafting the whole religious programme. I was given the task of assigning local congregations to visit one of the royal residences. We will do the same tomorrow and the following days."

The Free Wesleyan Church in Tonga's Tevita Havea.