House waits for 7 ministerial Annual Reports and new Budget [1]
Sunday, June 11, 2023 - 17:06. Updated on Sunday, June 11, 2023 - 17:06.
From the House, by Pesi Fonua
Following the opening of the 2022-2023 session of the Tonga Legislative Assemby on 1 June 2023, members of parliament are still waiting for the release of the 2021-2022 Annual Reports of seven government Ministries and entities.
Members of parliament are also patiently waiting for the Auditor General’s detailed explanation of 713 recommendations that were referred to in the AG's 2021-2022 Annual Report that was tabled before they closed the 2021-2022 proceedings of parliament on 25 May.
When answering a question by Lord Nuku in the House, on 16 May, about the 713 recommendations, the Speaker said there were seven annual ministerial reports yet to be filed. They were:
- MEIDECC
- Prime Minister's Office
- Fire Brigade
- Public Enterprises
- Ministry of Health
- Ministry of Education and Training
- Ministry of Police.
Annual Budget
The House expects the government’s 2023-2024 Annual Budget, to be tabled before 30 June. It is a priority task for the House to pass the budget before the start of the new financial year on 1 July.
However, there remained concern in the House leading-up to the end of the financial year, after the Tongan Government admitted it recently had paid large settlements of two court cases. One was with the Kacific Broadband Satellites Group, for settlement of an agreement for the installation of satellite services to Tonga, following the 2019 breaking of Tonga's sea-bed telecommunications cable. It was reported on the website of the Prime Minister's Office on 16 May, that the Tonga Government and the Kacific Broadband Satellites Group (Kacific) “have agreed to end litigation over a contract dispute… and…the terms of the agreement are confidential”.
The second was a settlement for Tonga’s cancellation of its hosting of the 2019 South Pacific Games.
In light of these large confidential pay outs from government coffers, the missing or late Annual Reports of a significant number of ministries and entities remains a concern for the People's and Nobles' Representatives in the House.