Opportunity in disaster [1]
Tuesday, May 30, 2006 - 15:52. Updated on Monday, May 19, 2014 - 18:26.
Tonga is on the verge of declaring a "state of emergency" and we all know that it is not a natural disaster that causes the crisis; it is a human creation. It is a triumph of matter over mind and morality. With catastrophe looming over Tonga, there are many who take this matter much too lightly. Shoreline (in this case Crown Prince Tupouto'a) and the Public Servants Association (PSA) are some who are unfazed with Tonga's bankruptcy reality.
Tupouto'a and the PSA have a lot more in common that they might like to believe. They are demanding, selfish, and insecure. They both threaten Government and rate themselves too highly. They demand deep loyalty and deserve deep mistrust. If Tupouto'a and PSA have a common language, they would easily recognize themselves in each other. Their motivation and determination will soon accelerate the demise of Government and leave us nothing to credit our success and inspiration except writing obituaries.
While Tupouto'a and PSA share a lot in common, there are also obvious differences. Tupouto'a, who is the Government, rules, while PSA does not (not yet anyway). The Prime Minister, Cabinet Ministers and Nobles have sworn their allegiance and loyalty to Tupouto'a, not PSA. Hence Government may decide to pay Shoreline $60M (or maybe more) for power generation that has depreciated so much in value and there is not much the people can do about it. The people are defenseless and the taxpayers are at the mercy of Government and Shoreline. The people can only hope Government's action will be morally and economically right for the Kingdom.
Hasty response
PSA is making an effort to serve the public servants' needs however they lack leadership and raison d'etre. They are still quaking in their ta'ovala from the strike last year. The redundancy package, which is insufficient for long term survival and/or retirement, can be credited to the PSA's effort. Their hasty response to the reshuffling of Cabinet Ministers and the Government's new look was very sloppy. They created a situation where they could not debate their proposition effectively, thus angering and disappointing some of their own members. PSA needs to apologize for their mistake, regroup, and redefine their process, purpose and role in this political, economic, social and civic turbulence.
While both Shoreline and PSA want a huge piece of the pie, PSA does not need to act in the same dubious and detached manner as the royal family. Putting all of the people of Tonga first will help their cause because there is no benefit to supporting PSA if they are to operate by the same selfish standard as Shoreline and Government. PSA needs to work towards establishing honest and intelligent leadership in Government.
Costly quorum
The new shuffled Government is not only costly but will undoubtedly constitute the quorum to pass the multi-million dollar loan Shoreline is desperately seeking. Tupouto'a is the team captain of this new design. Tupouto'a reportedly has no tolerance for those who confront and challenge his decisions. Therefore he expects his Cabinet Ministers to be team players, which usually means his Cabinet Ministers can leave their personal integrity, moral compass and intellect at home. They are to serve Tupouto'a's command with passive judgment. It is acceptable for a Cabinet Minister to have a wife and several mistresses but not to serve more than one master.
When Cabinet Ministers fail to be subservient, they are fired. We have witnessed this with 'Aisea Taumoepeau (husband of Hon. 'Alisi Taumoepeau), Clive Edwards and others. 'Aisea Taumoepeau, former Minister of Justice, around August of 2004 informed Mapa Faletau (now Hon. 'Akau'ola and former Head of Department for Ministry of Civil Aviation) that the One Airline Domestic Policy that civil aviation was working on may be unlawful. At that time Civil Aviation had granted a Foreign Air Operate Certificate (FAOC) license to Fly Niu and Peau Vava'u (one of Tupouto'a's business interests) to operate domestically. Faletau extended the FAOC to Peau Vava'u but refused to extend Fly Niu. Subsequently Fly Niu closed down despite the fact they had captured approximately 70% of the domestic market. Peau Vava'u is now experiencing serious financial and technical problems. Again the people will suffer the consequences of Tupouto'a's typical blunders.
Submissive respect
Hon. 'Alisi Taumoepeau is the first woman to be appointed Minister and is heading one of Tonga's most important Ministries. I have not met Taumoepeau but I have been told she is one of the better lawyers in Tonga and is well qualified for the job. It is a wise shift in Parliament and PSA needs to embrace and promote gender equality. The debate with Taumoepeau's appointment is whether she is compromising herself by accepting the very post from the same people that sacked her husband for doing the right thing. It is also understood that she does not sit favorably with Prince Lavaka who at one time wanted to sack her for writing to him (when he was PM) in a very authoritative fashion. Taumoepeau faces a lot of challenges in her appointment. Will she survive the onslaught of bitter resentment from those who want her to do the right thing? Until Clause 79 of the Constitution is amended and the system is based on meritocracy not aristocracy, Taumoepeau along with other Cabinet Ministers have a duty to serve their Government (constituted by the royal family) out of weakness and submissive respect, but not out of principle, integrity and common sense.
Tupouto'a and Lavaka along with their loyal friends and surrogates have chaired and/or sat on the Board of many Government business owned companies (Royal Tonga, Tonga Electric Power Board [TEPB], Sea Star Board, Samoa Market Board to name a few) that have failed miserably. Tonga Communications Corp (TCC) has a better chance of surviving since Lavaka resigned as its Chairman in January 2006. TCC pays Government multi-million pa'anga in commission and import duties on all its materials and equipment while Shoreline Group does not. Tupouto'a and Lavaka are constantly selecting individuals, who are not skilled or specialized in the appropriate fields, to be board members.
Boards
Ramsey Dalgety (retired Judge and a close friend of the royal family) was or is on the boards for most of the companies mentioned above. He is the chairman of TEPB. Hon. Paul Karalus, the new Minister of Civil Aviation was (and probably still is) a member of the TEPB Board. Tupouto'a stacked the Board of TEPB with his own people to approve the transfer of the distribution system but also raise power tariff simply because Shoreline could not raise the increment in power tariff without the approval of the TEPB Board... . The royal family has a propensity to place too much importance on loyalty and less on merit. As a result, they continue to put the wrong people in power and wrong decisions are being executed.
What might be Tupouto'a's next scheme? I am thinking out loud that Fua'amotu International Airport will soon be privatized and that would be Tupouto'a's next illegitimate child. Dalgety will be the chairman. Years later, Tupouto'a will claim that he has made vast improvements to the airport and it will be ready to be sold back to Government for some ridiculous multi-million costs. Tupouto'a is the quintessential unsuccessful businessman so before Shoreline suffers the same fate that killed Royal Tongan and others, he must get as much as he can from Government to support Shoreline Group and fund his next business endeavor.
Economic woes
Government certainly is to blame for its own economic woes. It has been reported that while Lavaka was PM, he was extravagant in his spending. It would be unfair to put all the blame on Lavaka because many department heads are also guilty of mismanagement and overspending. Lavaka left Government with an ugly mess that his successor, Feleti Sevele will be the fall guy for. So far, Sevele has not presented his plan on resolving the deficit even though the Minister of Finance, Hon. Siosaia 'Utoikamanu is doing due diligence to balance the books, evaluating cost cutting and remedial measures and warning the public that the worst is yet to come.
Tonga has a population of approximately 114,000 -
0-14 years: 35.3% (male 20,409, female 19,833);
15-64 years: 60.5% (male 34,343, female 34,627);
and 65 years and over: 4.2% (male 2,043, female 2,745).
There are about 4,000 public servants that are serving this population. Not all of the working age population is working as some are staying home mothers and some are in school for example. Much of the working population is employed by Government. This comes to about 1 public servant for every 28 people in Tonga. If Government reduces the public servants from 4,000 to 3,000 or 2,000 or even 1,000, they should also reduce the number of Ministers. If Tonga has the same ratio as Australia of 1 public servant to approximately 1,000 people, Tonga should only have 114 public servants including Ministers. There is little infrastructure, no rates to pay, and few taxes to justify having so many public servants and Ministers. PSA should seriously put all their effort to increasing opportunities in the private sectors for those who will soon be redundant.
Reduce number of ministers
A big cost incurred by Government is the Ministers, not only in salary but in overseas trips and daily per diems of probably $150 per day or more while they are overseas. In 1996, Cabinet Ministers' annual salaries were $20,000 and $14,000 for Members of Parliament . I understand that right before the strike last year, Lavaka approved a raise for Cabinet Ministers and they are now making over $100,000 per year. I propose reversing the raise. This will not go over well with the Ministers but it is a perfect start towards the right direction. If Government does not reduce the number of Ministers in addition to reducing their salaries, laying-off employees will not be well received by the public. It may create a conflagration that may be difficult to put out.
Another cost cutting measure and rigid control on spending is to evaluate the need and benefit of political appointments overseas. Government is maintaining these offices (i.e., airfares, allowances, per diems, rental/lease properties for offices and for embassies/consulates and employees). In San Francisco and New York, the office lease ranges from US$30 to US$150 or more a square foot depending on whether they are leasing a space in a Class A, B or C buildings. The rental properties for employees range from US$2,000 to US$5,000 a month depending on location. London is probably just as expensive as New York and San Francisco. These assignments do not significantly benefit Government or Tongans living overseas so much as it benefits the ambassadors, consulates and their respective families. Government needs to cut costs in doubtful revenue and unnecessary overseas travel.
Balancing act
There are other areas that may deserve revisiting such as Minister of Sports, Tourism and the new position (political advisor to Sevele) recently created for Lopeti Senituli. Senituli lost very badly in the election last year. He was a supporter of the democracy movement but his new position with Government gives the impression that he has flip-flopped on his political views. Sevele is engaging on a balancing act of suppressing some of those who support the need for change in Government and those who are royalists. With the information I have received of Senituli, it can be interpreted as the blind leading the blind.
As for the Ministry of Tourism, I propose Government collaborates with Chamber of Commerce for cost saving in a ministerial position and overstaffing.
Outsourcing
The Ministry of Works should be encouraged to outsource a lot of their projects and ultimately save money on another ministerial position and staffing. The Ministry must also start looking at ways to generate revenue by regulating building codes, issuing permits for new construction and/or improvements (depending on scope of work), inspection services, and possibly developing an approved plan and zoning for urban development. The Ministry can competitively bid out projects that leave them with the overall management of finance, schedule and quality without involving in the day-to-day activities.
The Post Office should not need 30 employees to process stamps, mail and packages. The Post Office will probably require a driver and half a dozen employees to process mail. Shops can sell stamps.
Audit
Comments I have received so far from various individuals are that Shoreline Group executives are not paying much in taxes on their income. I do not know but it is certainly something that Internal Revenue Services should be auditing to ensure that Shoreline pays all appropriate business, employee and related taxes in accordance with the law. Most importantly, if in fact the claim is legitimate, it is revenue Government needs to be collecting. Employers have the right to pay their employees whatever wage they believe is appropriate, but when it comes to paying taxes and doing business ethically it is something that Government needs to enforce.
Shoreline will do far worse than triggering an economic crisis with their unjustifiable price tag of $60M. If Price Waterhouse Cooper (PWC) is doing the auditing, we can only hope that PWC will deal with the situation as well as they did with Cable & Wireless (C&W) where PWC and Clive Edwards saved Government $15M. Edwards was responsible for de-regulating the Telecom industry and for terminating the C&W Agreement. C&W wanted $19M for their assets and Tevita Tupou (former Minister of Finance) wanted to settle for $16M. Edwards brought in PWC and the result was $4M for C&W vs. $19M. While Sevele is not straightforward with the loan for Shoreline and Tupouto'a at the helm, we must hope for the best and prepare for the worst.
Who will head TEPB?
If there was any benefit to Shoreline taking over the power generation and distribution, it was reducing the number of public servants (warm bodies) at TEPB. Shoreline has about 20% of the original workforce TEPB had. In taking back the power generation and distribution, Government needs to be very sure that they do not re-staff TEPB as it was prior to the transfer to Shoreline. It makes sense to outsource the management, engineering and maintenance to ensure cost efficiency and electrical reliability. The most important question is who will be heading TEPB? May be PSA can promote hiring competent people who are loyal to the people and not to the royal family otherwise it will be another scoundrel at the top. I propose that Government offers the public servants an incentive program that will allow them to acquire the capital stock of power & distribution system and any other privatized operations; employee stock ownership plan (ESOP). This will motivate and inspire the public servants to take their job seriously and be accountable for its losses and gains.
Running on empty
The PSA on the other hand must come to terms with the fact that Government is operating on an empty tank and can no longer carry the weight of the public servants. Complacency, under performance, lack of professionalism, services and aspiration is more of a liability than an asset. They must have a "come to Jesus" meeting with their people and be prepare to deal with the inevitable job losses in the immediate future. Keeping that many public servants on the payroll at such pitiful pay rate only breeds corruption. The output of the public servants is deliberately appalling and it is a reflection on the public servants and authorities that were (and still are) arbitrarily abusing their power. Government needs competent people and prospects that will contribute to Government's long-term improvement.
The PSA needs to engineer a plan to deal with the mounting unemployment rate especially with so many civil servants that will soon be out of a job. Perhaps the PSA needs to concentrate on providing alternatives to the public servants by increasing private sector opportunities that will not only benefit them and the communities, but will influence effective changes in Government. The PSA also needs to watch Sevele's three angels in the Board of Commissioners in their privatization effort. Ross Chapman (one of the angels) will probably stand to gain more from privatization so he is one to keep a close watch on. Furthermore, the PSA should establish a corporation where they will be able to convince the donors to award them some or all of contracts in which they will have the opportunity to demonstrate their ability to do better than Government. However, their business needs to be transparent, professional and honest because too many have been in leadership roles (both in Government and private businesses) that have failed miserably due to sub-standard performance and lacking in true leadership quality.
Shadow government
Politically, there is no reason why the PSA cannot form a national party and hold their own election as Shadow Government despite their minor differences (similar to the primary elections in the United States). By establishing a national party and going through a fair election, the PSA will cement the legitimacy of their organization and will allow them to show the way towards democracy. They will also be able to identify candidates with proven character and experience to be elected and/or appointed to office. This process will not only serve the public's interest, it will also embarrass and threaten the power of the royal family.
The PSA needs an astute leader with wisdom and common sense to know when to argue and when to negotiate. A leader who will not only focus on today's issues but with good judgment in actions that will have a favorable long term effect in changing the sweltering heat of injustice, corruption and oppression in the Kingdom. The PSA can potentially be the mouse that roared.
The people must wake up from their deep slumber because it will be a very long time before they will enjoy la dolce vita they love to indulge in. It is time for the people to reevaluate their household needs, contributions (kavenga) to the church (such as misinale, fakaafe, etc.) and most of all supporting the lifestyle of the royal family. A disastrous opportunity sounds like an oxymoron but with economic disaster and political earthquake in the Kingdom, they can be remedied by putting competent people in power that have a deep affection for the welfare of the Tongans. Now is the perfect opportunity to change Tonga for the better.
Where there's a will, there's a way!
Mele Payne Lynch
Moss Beach, CA