By Mataeliga Pio Sioa
KEY PLAYERS : Doctors Samoa Medical Association President Taule’ale’a Dr. Titi Lamese and Health Minister Valasi Tafito
“It ain’t over until the fat lady sings”!
If that is so then the Minister of Health is certainly not the’ fat lady’ because he has sung and all it does it make the doctors angry.
Even our Lady PM has sung too in support chorus but it left the doctors even angrier. So she too cannot be the singing ‘fat lady.’
Both were doing their singing in Parliament session last week.
Sadly, both were so far out of note the doctors scrambled to scratch and clawed their way up the proverbial wall to save their sanity.
“Our ‘Work To Rule’ still remains our ultimate resort but we’re acting in good faith for now so we can reach an understanding for the good of everyone,” President of the Samoa Medical Association, Taule’ale’ausumai So’oalo Dr. Titi. Lamese made the doctors position clear.
What the good doctor was referring to was the decision to defer their protest strike action timed for last Friday by another week.
The health and well being of the people at risk weighed heavily on the doctors duty conscience and obligations they were forced to go along with the Government’s ‘do as you’re told’ directive.
The Health Minister went as far as threatened to bring in outside doctors to run the health service mainly at the TTM Hospital.
It is his way of flexing a ‘ don’t give a damn’ muscle at the doctors ‘Work to Rule’ threat.
With the prevailing hostile environment in place there is no way it will end soon with any lady singing – thin or fat.
What the doctors want is not a new basic salary increase but overtime entitlements.
Government is saying the doctors are getting thousands of tala more and is putting a thunderous foot down in a show for the doctors to do what they are told or else.
While the Health Minister turns on the theatrics the chances of scaring the doctors to turn pussy cat and purr at his feet are not very likely. Not by a very long shot dear Minister.
For goodness sake you don’t become a doctor by being the stupid kid in class. Students with brains go on to win university scholarship awards to study to become doctors.
It is only after the struggles averaging 6 years of classroom learning and internship that a fully fledged doctor is born.
How can the intimidating tactics of a manipulative political figure put the devil’s fear in people like these?
Doctors are guided by an overwhelming sense of duty to save lives and will not be compromised when it comes to matters of life and death.
From what we are hearing so far the doctors and the PSC were on a positive track to settling their issues when the ‘either or’ threat came down of accepting the effective date for the new salary and overtime structure.
The doctors responded tit-for-tat with a ‘Work to Rule’ ultimatum of their own for a 3-6 months re-negotiations time before the new enumeration structure becomes effective.
Thus we stand so far on the doctors attempts for a fair and just solution.
Loud, bullying rhetoric from the Health Minister is not going to solve the problem. Neither are deadlines by both sides to be fair.
Where life and death are involved the stakes are too high to play chicken or even worse, politics.
The doctors insist their concerns have nothing to do with politics and they have made that declaration loud and clear which is easier to believe.
Unfortunately, politicians are now joining the play and politics is their playground where they run circles around the doctors.
When politicians are involved, politics is a recourse they will naturally take to corrupt the integrity of the true issues and intentions to be resolved.
So folks, when it comes to a question of who to trust most in the matter of life and death, stay with the doctors.
Politics in general will sell you down the river without any second thoughts.
Doctors will not survive the guilty conscience of ethics in their career calling to save lives even if it is that of a conniving politician.
Bullying the doctors is not going to save lives. Manipulating political misdirection to corrupt any agreement is deliberate abuse of power.
Making running condemnations of each other more important over saving lives, cheapens the value of God’s gift to mankind of life.
Saving lives is at stake in the doctors and the Health Minister’s need to resolve whatever differences under negotiations.
Let’s get our priorities right folks. Ours and our loved ones lives are at stake.
Let’s fast forward to when the ‘fat lady’ sings.