By Mataeliga Pio Sioa
Bottom line for any political party in Government is service to the people. The primary objective is to provide what benefits the country most.
It is time PM Fiame and her FAST Government show political maturity and concentrate on that.
Govern with the wisdom and foresight of responsible leadership not angry juveniles on a wrecking rampage.
Former PM Tuilaepa and the HRPP party left behind a legacy of developments that upgraded Samoa from a least developed country to a developing one.
FAST should follow that lead and keep the development momentum going.
Direct all that vengeful energy that is turning them into a demolishing menace into positive initiatives.
Re-locating the Sogi Market back to Savalalo without any credible explanation is one of several instances of a ‘knee jerk’ reaction with little thought for the longterm good of the country.
The HRPP vision of expanding the township and help resolve the road congestion problem to stand for the next 20-50 years is sound judgment.
Much better than murky speculations that New Zealand funding of the new market at Savalalo dictates what is good for Samoa.
As Tuilaepa rightly pointed out… “NZ has no understanding of what is best for Samoa unless they can be convinced of the greater benefits for the country.”
There are lessons to be learned from that and it augurs well for FAST to defer to the counsel of the wise.
Doubts about the viability of the Samoa Airways new aircraft delayed in Australia for safety inspections smells strongly of spite by the present Government.
The Minister of Civil Aviation failed to portray true sincerity with all that blow up of concerns about the safety of the travelers.
Is he suggesting that the national carrier’s management would advise the previous Government to hire the aircraft knowing it is not safe for public travel?
All he has succeeded in doing is scare travelers from flying our own Samoa Airways. What good will that do for our hard earned tax investments?
What we have heard so far, even from the PM, is Samoa Airways always operating at a loss. Even if that is the case what has not been factored in is the ‘ flow on effect or multiplication value’ .
Again as Tuilaepa has repeatedly pointed out the national carrier’s loss is balanced out by the benefits to hotels, restaurants, rentals, shops, handcrafts even street vendors and many more.
The Civil Aviation Minister and his colleagues in Cabinet will serve the country better if they widen their economic perspective.
Samoa will reap much needed benefits from being open minded rather than locked up in a pigeon-hole stance by a raging impulse to dunk their political predecessor’s image in the dirt and hold it there.
It is possible that the one saving grace this new administration can excuse their impetuous retaliatory reaction is they have only been in office for a few months. True!
But the undeniable fact they must own up to is this FAST Government is dominated by rookie MPs. Outside of PM Fiame and MAF Minister Laauli, the rest of the Cabinet are political beginners.
One way to prove that is the debate on the budget when the Minister of Finance stammered all over the place under the onslaught of HRPP opposition grilling.
Maybe this rookie status is behind the MAF Minister popping up like a yo-yo everywhere in other Cabinet portfolios he is not assigned to.
There is a lot of truth in thinking that he maybe taking on a mother hen role to cackle the brood under his protective wings from big bad Tuilaepa and his aggressive HRPP goons.
As PM Fiame has other more pressing leadership duties to attend, it is possible the MAF Minister is allowed a free-run to usher the rookie flock along the right path. Nothing wrong with that!
Hopefully all those rookie Ministers are willing to swallow any loss of self esteem at being directed by a man the opposition leader is fond of calling a dodgy sweet talker .
Any man who can sweet talk the voters into expecting a million tala if his party wins and get away with it is an exceptional individual.
Unfortunately, too much of a sweet thing can turn sour. The voters outcry resounds for their million tala just rewards FAST promised when and if they take up power.
The waiting continues and the longer it remains the more the party trustworthiness erodes.
The Million Tala Party tag will stick like an ugly birthmark FAST will struggle to hide for as long as it is around as a political force.
Whether they like it or not, Tuilaepa has offered them a pearl of wisdom with the call to PM Fiame to build on the success the HRPP has left behind.
If they can grow that success to full blossom it will do more than justice to the service they are entrusted with for the good of the country.
Do the opposite as they seem to be doing now and the consequences are unlikely to keep them in power very long.
Heed the counsel of these simple, down to earth words, that the test of time has proven wise.
“If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”