Editor,

First, I wish to herein express my condolences to the families of those people who unfortunately lost their lives in the sinking of the Princess Ashika.

Although the sinking of the Princess Ashika was an accident, I still want to express the fact that this is one example of how the Government of Tonga fail to do what's in the best interests of its people.

Over the years, I have seen many ship with little or no seaworthiness operating in Tonga. Ship have sunk like the Princess Ashika and still the Government of Tonga did nothing to improve the safety of shipping between the islands. For many years, the parliament of Tonga did little or nothing to provide its people with safe shipping between its islands. I have travelled by ship in Tonga for the last 20 years and I know the unsafe conditions of those ship. I really do think that it's about time the Government of Tonga should put its people first and the unrealistic rhetorics in parliament second.

If the Government of Tonga does not do anything to improve the safety of shipping in Tonga, the same tragedy as the sinking of the Princess Ahika would be repeated. Omission of responsibilities and negligence are both at issue here. Some people may say that safe shipping is not the responsibility of the Government of Tonga, but in my opinion, it is its responsibility to save the lives of its citizens.

In conclusion, I would like to thank Mr. Uliti Uata and his family not only for saving the lives of those people when the Princess Ahika sank but also for providing shipping for the people from the outer islands for many years.

Yours sincerely,

Siosaia Fatani.

sstuakoi [at] yahoo [dot] com