This is a good thing, right?
No more white man technology for Tonga.
As “Mother Nature” intended!
We were there and in the general vicinity in 1975 and again in 2000. Life was good in 1975. People in French Polynesia were friendly, calm, healthy and seemed happy. Tonga was a rural backwater with fresh food from the sea and the land. Everyone had some chickens and maybe a pig. Business was conducted by telephone and radio.
By 2000, everyone had motorbikes, cell phones. The hotels had internet and I suppose some other residents did, as well. People were more sullen. There were constant strikes and labor unrest in Tahiti (interestingly, the large French properties were struck, not the American ones). All through Polynesia, people were laughing at the Bush vs. Gore fiasco.
1975 in the South Pacific was a true delight. A time and place to which I’d willingly return, given the chance.
My takeaway from this article is that a makeshift solution was found and life goes on.