To whale or Not to whale [1]
Friday, June 23, 2006 - 17:55. Updated on Monday, October 6, 2014 - 13:38.
Editor,
Solomon Islands was one of the countries that voted with Japan on the pro-whaling debate which won a majority vote over the last couple of days. Sadly, again, the Minister of Fisheries for Solomon Islands, Mr. Nollen Leni went against his government and cabinet's decision to abstain from voting, disobeying a cabinet directive and he is yet to face the consequences when he comes back here in a few days time.
Last year, Solomon Islands unfortunately was humiliated on the world stage in identical circumstance when the then Minister of Fisheries and Marine Resources, Mr. Paul Maenu'u, disobeyed the exact same directive and voted with Japan in the last IWC meeting. That minister was sacked as a result of that disobedience.
One wonders why a government minister would choose to end his career by voting against his government's directive in such a public manner. One can only assume that the remuneration of voting for Japan, far outweighs any personal (let alone social or otherwise) benefits that he can acquire for himself and his constituents by remaining a government minister.
I applaud the Tongan delegates sent to the IWC meeting in being able to withstand what must have been a very "persuasive" offer to contradict country and government directions and kept to the program of voting against whaling for the benefit of the whole country and economy, instead of short term personal gain.
Unfortunately 'Ofa-ki-Tonga, four cows in the paddock might constitute a sustainable milk supply, but by no means a fully fledged dairy industry, that Industry is the dream. Slaughter the poor things, and you'll end up with four villages fed for two days, and a memory of another extinct species that used to be.
M. Havea
onoiki [at] planet-tonga [dot] com