Team Tonga

The winners received FJD $5000 in Suva last night.

Team Tonga’s Mia and Mafi are the runners up in the competition, which saw cooks from four countries pit their skills in the kitchen.

Samoa and Vanuatu also competed in the competition.

The programme was televised in 14 Pacific countries.

The team Fiji members operate the Niu Grillz restaurant and catering business, located at the Fiji Club.

Team Tonga Chef de Mission 'Amanaki Fakakovikaetau, who is also a member of TASANOC's Executive Committee, said the government only told them last Wednesday it would pay for the flight, which is scheduled to leave on Thursday.

He said the original payment deadline from Air Vanuatu has since passed but the airline have kept the door open while they wait to hear from the government.

"But they've also been negotiating how we're going to do this payment and we're still waiting for the confirmation and the letter from government that they are going to do that," he said.

Last week the government had to front up the travel bill for 59 remaining athletes whose federations failed to pay their air fares to Papua New Guinea to compete in this year's Pacific Games.

The Minister of Youth, Employment and Sports, Fe'ao Vakata, says the Tonga Amateur Sports Association and other federations were disorganised and it's the last time the government will front up travel money due to their lack of preparation.

Vakata says the Ministry will work on setting up a separate institute of sports for Tonga alongside criteria for selected federation members.