EXPLAINER: POLITICS
NFP’s Lenora Qereqeretabua tries to explain her error
Since 2016, Government has spent more than $16 million to subsidise the cost of Walesi set up boxes which were given out free of cost to households whose annual income was less than $30,000. Yesterday, we revealed how National Federation Party Member of Parliament Lenora Qereqeretabua was wrong when she claimed that the set up boxes were $149.
Not only is the figure incorrect, she also did not take into account the 100,000 plus families who were given the boxes free.
Her explanation:
On Tuesday evening, after the paper went to press, Ms Qereqeretabua had this to say in response to emailed questions: “The day before, Wednesday 27th May, I asked her in Parliament if she could inform the house why Government had failed to fulfil its 2015 budget policy announced in November 2014 of providing tablets or laptops as per its objective of ‘one tablet or laptop per child’ to all primary and secondary school students; something which was critical now to online learning seeing the disruption to school caused by COVID-19.
“The debate shouldn’t be about free distribution of 100,000 decoders – obviously as part of election freebies in 2018; the debate shouldn’t be about the price of decoders; whether $99 or $149. The debate is about accessibility by students for school work.
“Decoders alone do not mean students have automatic accessibility to educational material being dished out through the platform. “Decoders do not mean automatic connectivity to Walesi because one needs a television set, antenna and cables to ensure clear reception. Did the ministry first ascertain the percentage of students having access to learning on this platform? “Does the ministry know how many Walesi users actually enjoy clear signals? Indeed how many areas in Fiji cannot get the Walesi signal?
“I think a follow up by the ministry to have these questions answered would be useful in ascertaining the success or otherwise of Walesi in providing access to education at this time.”
Now obviously Ms Qereqeretabua fails to realise she cannot be economical with the truth. She cannot pick and choose when she speaks the truth in Parliament.
As an MP, there is an expectation that whatever she says in Parliament and in media are well researched facts. Her attempt at an ‘explanation’ fails at several levels.
The one-laptop per child policy, which has since been shelved had nothing to do with Walesi. In fact, watching Walesi on a television set is not the only option out there. If Ms Qereqeretabua had only asked her former employers Vodafone Fiji Limited for some statistics, she would have known how many households have more than one smartphone.
In fact, if only she had done a thorough research herself before getting to Parliament, instead of reading out from a piece of paper perhaps handed to her, she would have known the answers to every question she raised in Parliament and in her response.
We expect facts, not half baked hearsay from our MPs.