By Staff Writer
The FAST Government is getting a fair whipping from inside and outside Parliament, after an election promise to handout $1m to each of the 51 electoral constituencies to do as they please, if they come into power.
The time to collect on the promise is up but the national budget passed during the week did not have any appropriation for such a pay out.
What the budget needed to approve was a total of $51 million tala to meet the promise, instead they only allowed for $11m or $200,000 for each constituency.
“Where is the other 40 million tala,” one of the Government MPs asked in the House during the week.
Since the Human Rights Protection Party, HRPP was allowed back into Parliament they have been niggling at why and where the election promise has ended.
“ Where is our million tala you promised when you ran your roadshow in my electoral constituency before the general elections,” MP Ale Vena Ale of the Faleata No. 4 constituency asked.
The Minister of Agriculture and Chairman of the FAST party, La’auli Polataivao Schmidt, who is held responsible for making the mouthwatering election promise, has struggled to wriggle out of the promise by denying making it in the first place.
His denials were made worse when video clips circulated widely on social media, showed him making the promise during the party’s pre-election roadshows.
The Prime Minister, Fiame Naomi Mataafa, has tried to tone it down with the budgeting of $200 thousand tala per district, not as a straight off give away, but for constituencies to apply for funding of development projects.
Faleata opposition, MP Loau Keneti Sio, told Parliament of the disappointment in his constituency after looking forward to the relief from the money they were promised.
“We have families who live off planting peanuts who decided to wait out their share of the money rather than work their peanut patches,” Loau explained.
“The last time I checked they were all back to planting peanuts, angry and disappointed once they were told there will be no $1m coming.”
The backlash from the failed election promise has gouged a deep credibility hole of public trust in the FAST Government.
It also sets up the party Chairman La’auli as a popular target for a flogging by public opinion as well as being ridiculed across the political divide.