Editor,
I am not a Shoreline agent but I do support fairness.
I do find the 2nd May letter from Moss Beach, California to be erroneous and misleading in many ways. The author may wish to refer to the Tonga Now website to find that her arguments regarding the $60 M loan and her words of wisdom regarding HRH and the PM, her calculations, etc is just the way she described and understand what exactly is going on - plain stupid. Mou ki...i tatali mu...a pea fekumi ke ma...u e kanokato kae tuku e eat front. The loan is only a consideration as any wise government must have a Plan B in place in the event that Plan A (private sector / govt-private partnership) does not work. It may enlighten some to appreciate that Price Waterhouse Coopers is currently being engaged to assist in the process of appraising the company...s assets to assist in setting the appropriate and fair figure for the transfer from Shoreline and subsequently the loan amount only if that option will be taken.
It may also help the author to realize that there are also others who have the ADB and PIEPSAP reports and the claim that 2002 & 2005 reports talk about the absurdity of a $60 M loan which has just been revealed last month in 2006 is just as absurd. It should also be recalled that the transfer from TEPB to Shoreline happened at a time when Clive Edwards was the chair of TEPB.
People must remember that this power issue has been way too politicized and the call for the return of the power generation from Shoreline has been agreed to by Shoreline. Any right thinking human will realise that a cost, based on the agreement signed prior to the transfer to Shoreline, has to be paid so why the fuss? People asked for it and now we are getting what we asked for. Government is committed in engaging Price Waterhouse Coopers to set a price that is fair and just. Let us be patience please!
As suggested by the author, government can spend $60 M on renewable energy but the fact of the matter is this will not change Tonga...s energy dependency and neither will it have a significant impact on the country...s greenhouse gas emission. Alternatively, to invest on energy efficiency and in the transport sector will bring about more significant economic and environmental benefits.
The author was very right in an earlier posting where it was quoted that ...according to Albert Einstein, there are only two things that are infinite, the universe and human stupidity and while we are not sure about the former, there is absolutely no doubt about the latter.... I may add that ...One need not cut and paste from everything seen or read in the Internet in order to appear sophisticated and smart....
...Ofa atu
Sailosi Finau,
sailosifinau [at] yahoo [dot] com [dot] au
