From the House by Pesi Fonua

The Tongan Parliament yesterday 5 October with a majority vote of 16-0 passed a number of Government Ministries Annual Reports, some as old as 2009, that had never been formally tabled into Parliament.

Lord Tu'i'afitu initially suggested for the House to recognize and pass the annual reports, because it would be an enormous amount of work for the House to go through and deliberate over the reports.

The Minister of Finance, Hon. Tevita Lavemaau, pointed out that these reports completed the legal requirement of these ministries for these years, “but basically no use for us moving forward; but thanks for fulfilling the legal requirements.”

He suggested to leave the Auditor’s General reports of June 2019 and June 2020 for the House to look at.

The Speaker ordered for the Auditor’s General June 2019 and June 2020 to be put aside, then called for votes on the rest of the Annual Reports.

It was carried 16-0.

The Legislature dissolved into Committee of the Whole House, and the Chairman Lord Tu'i'afitu called for the Ha’apai People Representative No. 12, Mo’ale Finau to present his Constituency Report.

Mo’ale said there are nine villages in is constituency, and he had allocated $10,000 for each of these villages and the remaining $10,000 is for a working committee to overlook how the villages allocations are spent.

The needs of these villages varied, but were basically fundamental needs such as water tanks, rubbish collection, public toilet facilities, better roads, and barges for internal shipping services.

However, despite all these needs, Mo’ale at the end, stressed that the most urgent need for Constituency No. 12, is to fix their road, the Hala Holopeka.

The Hala Holopeka has historical significance for the Ha’apai. The chairman of the Committee of  the Whole House, Lord Tu'i'afitu, is the owner of the Estate of Holopeka.

The 2019 and 2020 Constituency Report of the Ha’apai No. 12 People's Representative was carried with votes of 16-0.

Half-day session today

Parliament had a half-day session today, because after lunch it did not have a quorum; Cabinet Ministers were in session and could not attend Parliament, so the Speaker declared the House closed until tomorrow, 7 September.

During the morning session, the Ha’apai No. 13 People’s Representative, Light of  Day Taka,  presented his 2019 and 2020 Constituency Tour Report.

The Ha’apai No. 13 Constituency covers a number of islands, with a wide range of needs. For example, the island of Nomuka needs 100 water tanks, but at Fonoi and Mango they need only 10 each.

With primary education, an island may have range of 4, 5 or 8 students, and so each island will have a teacher each. If the teacher gets sick, there's no school.

The community’s basic needs are the same as with other constituencies, good roads, electricity, health services, and security.

The Committee of the Whole House passed the Constituency Report of Veivosa Light of Day Taka, 15-0.