RHD Is A Joke Taken Too Far, If It Is One

Written by Pio Sioa
Saturday, 19 January 2008
When Parliament goes into session tomorrow you can bet your first salary packet of 2008, there will be a whole bunch of eager ears in Apia pointing westward. Has been a while since the House at Tiafau Malae roped in this kind of national attention. But then again it has been a while also since the road to Mulinuu has borne thousands of feet trudging along in protest, as it did before the start of the holiday season, to demonstrate against the Government’s Right Hand Drive policy. Newer twists and turns will undoubtedly emerge out of the debate starting tomorrow on the RHD issue. Whatever is said inside the House, it is guaranteed they will spark off a whole new run of speculations to stretch the imagination further, and bewilder the mind even more. One would have imagined this prolonged debate would have already become protracted by now, and it has to some extent. Government is mostly to blame. How they continue to muscle this policy through on whimsical premises is absurd. Totally unbelievable and so unbecoming of the transparency and accountability the PM held so sacred at the start of his leadership reign. The Government arguments have become so ridiculous it is a struggle sometimes to contain a bad case of the giggles. The PM seems to be having a good laugh at the expense of a few selected groups of people with national concerns. When the association of professional engineers lodged their concern on the technical aspects of the road, they were ridicule by the Prime Minister and taken to be fools, a disgrace to their profession. The engineers in that respect joined the members of the accounting profession who were the first to be bestowed the ‘distinguished’ label. The journalists are the most recent to be added to the ‘list of fools’ if reports of a letter written in the hand of the PM can be confirmed. According to reports the recipient of the letter was advised not to pay too much attention to the media, because the journalists in Samoa did not make it past Form 2. Gulp! On wonders if maybe the PM would have been better off being a comedian? The man continues to amaze with a hidden repertoire of talents to reach for when the need arises. Even his fellow politicians in the HRPP have not escaped the descriptive abilities of the PM when he referred to them as liars and conmen, who are not to be believed. The comments were made when asked to confirm if it is indeed true that even members of his party caucus were against the RHD. With this kind of response emanating from the leader of the country it is hard not to sympathize with the protesters frustration. How can any sane person try to reason against this kind of irresponsible wit? Wit is an admirable quality in a person but the noble values of the term are abused if applied beyond reason, and in a manner that blatantly disregards the importance of an issue of national importance. The RHD concern is a valid one and should not be brushed aside with idle nonsense, where the person is targeted rather than the concerns. This appears to be the strategy behind the accusations about lawyers wanting to be politicians that was obviously directed at the leader of the protest, Toleafoa Solomona To’ailoa. All credit to the protest leader and his advisers that they kept their composure and stayed true to their cause. The fact that they are prepared to see the issue all the way to court if they have to is a stance to be applauded for the depth of conviction. The politicians will be politicians! The ordinary man on the street has the option of the vote to trade for things to help improve his daily livelihood. This same man has for the better part of the HRPP tenure in office, enjoyed and appreciated what has come to transpire over the years. But this damn Right Hand Drive policy has strained the belief. Say at the end of this chicken and string farce, every family gets a right hand car to drive around, will the positives outweigh the negatives? Has Government probed all the key variables of having 40 thousand vehicles moving on the road all at once, if RHD cars are going to boost the current fleet we have of 17 thousand plus cars? Do we have the infrastructure to handle the numbers? Are the roads wide enough to prevent traffic jams? At this time of rising oil prices, what is our fuel bill for 40 thousand cars? With these many cars on the road, what are the risks of injuries or deaths from traffic accidents? These are variables that without the benefits of a study will expose us the general public to a trial and error process that unfortunately entails injury or loss of life. Any concerned person will see the logic in these arguments. These are the kinds of arguments put forth by the protesters that the Government is prepared to laugh off as a big joke. Death is no joke! No perceived economic benefits are worth a life. Comments (0) Subscribe to this comment's feed Write comment Name Email Title Comment
Last Updated ( Sunday, 20 January 2008 )

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