Government: Tell us more about the new Olovaha [1]
Sunday, February 14, 2010 - 12:32. Updated on Sunday, May 25, 2014 - 22:09.
Editor,
According to a statement made by the Minister for Information and Communications, Hon. 'Eseta Fusitu'a, on February 11, 2010; the construction of a new Olovaha in Japan "was delayed for three years because of protests and objections from Mr Uliti Uata . . .," a member of parliament from Ha'apai. According to Hon. 'Eseta Fusitu'a, this new Olovaha would have begun its construction in 2005 and delivered to be used by the people of Tonga in 2008. Unfortunately, this did not happen because of what Mr. Uata did.
If Hon. 'Eseta Fusitu'a's accusations about Mr. Uata are true, I don't think we need any assistance to figure out why Mr. Uata was protesting and objecting to the construction of a new Olovaha. Frankly, I think Mr. Uata wanted to monopolize the shipping business in Tonga. Thank you Mr. Uata for carrying out what's in your best interests and not the best interests of your people. Is this the reason why we want to become a member of parliament? To be unjustly enriched? I don't think so! And I hope these were not Mr. Uata's motives, when he protested and objected to the purchase of the new Olovaha.
The questions here are, "Why did Japan listen to Mr. Uata and not the Government of Tonga? This doesn't sound right. Something does not smell right here. The will of one individual is superior to the will of the people! Why did the Government of Tonga did not talk much about what Hon. 'Eseta Fusitu'a stated yesterday? Was it trying to hide something? Was there any conspiracy perpetrated in parliament? Any bribery? I think the government has some explanations to do. The Ahika tragedy could have been avoided! The people deserve to know what their government is doing for them. They need to learn from the mistakes of today to avoid the tragedies of tomorrow.
The trust of the people in their government is really at stake here. In the inquiry of the Princess Ashika that is ongoing today in Tonga, I am appalled by what are reflected in the testimonies of the professional leaders of the government : dishonesty, contradictions, inabilities to recall recent events, lies, elusiveness in answering questions, neglect and/or omission of duties, misconceptions, misrepresentations, finding excuses for their wrongs, releasing of hostile witnesses from their jobs, deliberate acts of ignorance, pointing fingers, appearance of a cover-up, appearance of some conspiracy, bias in testimony, and perhaps others. These certainly are undesirable reflections that cause the people to lose faith in their government and its employees.
I don't think the people of Tonga are dummies. They know exactly what is going on. As Bob Marley once sang in one of his songs, " You can fool me sometimes, but not all the times." They deserve better. They deserve honesty and no corruptions in their government. Dishonesty has no place on our beautiful earth. Regardless of what is said and done in this Princess Ashika's Inquiry, the bottom line is obvious, the people who handled the purchase and the operations of the Princess Ashika were undoubtedly negligent. Perhaps some mitigation of damages is in process. That's nice!
Damages were done. More than 70 innocent lives were lost. Fair compensation has to be made to the injured. Stop the games. Tell the truth and nothing but the truth. So help me God.
Yours sincerely,
Siosaia Fatani.
sstuakoi [at] yahoo [dot] com