Minister for Labor Maatia Toafa of Tuvalu

While some commentators have called for the relocation of the population of Tuvalu to Australia, New Zealand or Kioa (Fiji), the former Prime Minister Maatia Toafa said his government did not regard rising sea levels as such a threat that the entire population would need to be evacuated.

Mr Toafa said the Niue government is liaising with the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat on the issue.

Toafa has revealed that land where he fished as a child is now under water and he blames global warming.

TOKYO - Low-lying nations such as Tuvalu are slowing slipping under the waves and only dramatic steps, such as legal action against big polluter the United States, might stem the tide, Tuvalu Prime Minister Maatia Toafa said on Thursday.

BackgroundToafa was deputy Prime Minister when on August 27, 2004, he became Acting Prime Minister when Prime Minister Saufatu SopoangaSaufatu Sopoanga Saufatu Sopoanga is a former Prime Minister and foreign minister of Tuvalu.

Thanking Japan's ambassador, Masashi Namekawa, Toafa said he was pleased with the speed with which Japan responded to requests for help, made in September last year.

Toafa said the grant will keep Tuvalu's power station running, allowing the Pacific island state to buy enough fuel to maintain two small transport ships and two fishing boats at sea.

Under my term, we also managed to get the countrys strategic plan completed, Toafa said in a telephone interview.

Toafa said there have been some progress in these reforms as the governments travel office has been privatised.

Toafa was deputy Prime Minister when on August 27, 2004, he became Acting Prime Minister when Prime Minister Saufatu Sopoanga resigned from Parliament after his government was deposed in a no confidence vote.

Prior to entering politics Toafa had worked for the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat in Suva.

At the August 2006 parliamentary elections, Toafa was reelected to Parliament, but all of the members of his cabinet were defeated.

Mr Toafa said Japan had supplied aid money to Tuvalu for capital projects for about a decade, but there had not been any extra aid attached to how it would vote at the IWC.

Mr Toafa said Tuvalu supported limited whaling at a sustainable level.

Mr Toafa said Tuvalu was represented at the IWC by its acting secretary to government who had the mandate to decide how to vote.

Mr Toafa says hes ready to serve another term and is now in discussions with the new members in a bid to gain their support.

Toafa is the ninth Prime Minister of Tuvalu and also holds the portfolio of Minister for Foreign Affairs and Labor.

Toafa was at the airport to greet Chen in person, while a group of Tuvaluan elementary school children serenaded the president with Taiwanese songs, singing: "Taiwan's scenery is really beautiful.

Nanumea, the most northern of the group.

Tuvalus Prime Minister, Maatia Toafa says his government does not regard rising sea levels as such a threat that the entire population would need to be evacuated.

Toafa says his government is considering the idea of moving Tuvaluans to Kioa, but does not regard this as a priority.

Prime Minister Maatia Toafa is the head of government for Tuvalu.