Parliamentary travel cost concerns Members [1]
Tuesday, August 28, 2007 - 18:59. Updated on Sunday, June 15, 2014 - 20:01.
From the House, an English translation summary from the Tongan vernacular, by Pesi Fonua.
Tonga Legislative Assembly, Minute No. 21, Thursday August 23, 2007.
The highlight of debate was the concern by some members over the membership of the Tongan Parliament in overseas parliamentary associations, and the cost for Tongan representatives to attend some of their meetings. It raised the question: was it worth it?
The Tonga Law Commission Bill 2007 was given its three readings in a sequence and passed without any debate then the House proceeded into Question Time. The money due to government from Tongasat and Shoreline was raised by 'Isileli Pulu. He also queried the composition of the Board of the Port Authority claiming that there was a conflict of interest in the board, which is chaired by the Prime Minister, and one of the members is a brother of his son-in-law.
Sick leave
The Chief Clerk announced that the Minister of Lands was still away overseas and those who were away sick included the Governor of Ha'apai, Noble Fohe, Noble Vaha'i and Noble Luani. Also away sick was 'Uliti Uata. He said that the other members, the Prime Minister, the Minister of Tourism and the Minister for Public Enterprises who did not answer their call were probably coming late.
It was only a short session, from 9.30-11 am on August 23.
After the clerk read an invitation letter from the Asia, Pacific Parliamentarians Union, APPU, to their annual meeting at the end of August, 'Akilisi expressed his concern over the House's travel spending to send representatives to this kind of meeting that he said does not provide any benefit to the country.
Samiu Vaipulu, who was one of the first two Tongan representatives to attend an APPU conference, told the House that APPU conferences are where a project is first initiated. He said that when he attended Tonga was desperately trying to find out the secret of pearl farming. He that the growing of a full pearl is a secret that has been guarded by the Japanese, and even today Tongan pearl farmers still do not know how to do it.
Noble Tu'ipelehake said for the House not to be too conscious in trying to save seniti then missing out on hundreds of pa'anga that could be made. He said that it was most important for the House to select the right representatives to the meeting.
Sunia Fili had attended an APPU meeting and he thought it was worth it.
In the end the House accepted the invitation with votes of 17-0. Sunia Fili and Noble Tangipa will represent Tonga at the Palau APPU meeting.
Law Commission
The Tonga Law Commission Bill 2007 was passed by first reading 19-0, second reading 21-0 and the third reading 20-0.
Tongasat
At question time 'Isileli Pulu lead the charge with two questions.
- How much has Tongasat paid government between 2001 and 2007, based on their 1998 agreement?
- How many audited financial reports has Tongasat forwarded to government as required by the 1998 agreement?
The Minister of Finance's answered that:
- Tongasat has not paid any money to government since 2001;
- government has received Tongasat's audited financial report for 1998. They also have received drafts of financial reports between 2000 and 2003.
'Isi wanted to know roughly how much Tongasat owed government annually over the years.
The Minister of finance said that a figure of $US500,000 was mentioned but the accompanying report was doubtful. He said that the problem was because the Tongasat office was on fire and some of their records got burnt.
'Isi wanted to know what the minister was going to do about the unpaid dues during the past seven years.
The Minister said that if Tongasat failed to abide by the agreement he would have to pass over the matter to the Minister of Justice.
'Isi's next two questions were directed at the Attorney General. Based on the agreement between Tongasat and the government:
- Tongsat was supposed to pay government 50% of its annual gross profit, but nothing has been paid to government since 2001.
- Tongasat is to send government an audited financial report within three months from the end of the financial year.
He said that a reply from the Minister of Finance to a letter that he sent him in 2006 stated that he had forwarded the matter to the Crown Law Department.
The question was what has the Crown Law done about it since the matter has been with them for 11 months?
The Minster of Justice said that lawyers and the Department of Communication are working on the matter and there are figures to go through, and she could not talk about it until they had completed their work.
Port Authority
'Isi's next three questions were directed at the Minister for Public Enterprises.
- Who are the members of the Board of the Port Authority?
- Who is the chair person?
- Were they selected fairly and independently?
The Minister answered:
- The members of the board are - Dr Feleti Sevele, Richard Prema, Fine Tohi, Malakai Tapealava and Michael Jones, a reserve director.
- The chairman is Dr Feleti Sevele.
- The board members were already selected before he became a minister but he believed they were selected fairly.
'Isi siad that there was a conflict of interest with the members of the Board. He said that the PM should not have been the Chairman and he did not understand how a brother of his son in law was elected as a member.
The Minister for Public Enterprises reminded the member that people who are elected to become members of a board are chosen for their expertise and knowledge of the operation that they are going to manage and he did not think there was a conflict of interest.
Squash Council
On a different issue 'Isi asked the Minister for Labour, Commerce and Industries if the Squash Council failed to honour the MOU that was signed between the Council and his ministry in order for the council to raise a loan.
The Minister said there was a MOU, but he did not think the council dishonoured the MOU.
Noble Tu'ipelehake reminded the member that an MOU is not a contract.
'Isi went on to ask about two instances when a barge and building material were imported duty free under a Shoreline Company Development licence. It was later found that the barge and the building materials were not for Shoreline but for private owners. There has been no court cases over the two instances, but the duty due on the barge has been repaid, but with regards to the building materials, the case was still with the police.
'Isi said that the Chief Secretary to Cabinet has a working contract with the secretary for Tongasat, and he wanted to know if Tongasat is paying the salary of the Chief Secretary and when is she going to come back to work.
The Prime Minister did not think it was proper for the House to get involved with the executive on issues with regards to their staff.
'Isi said that it was not a good response from the PM, because the Chief Secretary has been away overseas for a long time and he has the right to ask, where is she?
The House was closed at 11 am.