RHD Protest March, No Surprise

Written by Pio Sioa
Sunday, 02 December 2007
RHD PROTEST: “Say No To RHD”- the slogan that will carry the protest up to the 17th of December. The decision to march to Parliament on 17 December in protest of the Government’s Right Hand Drive (RHD) policy was predictable, even before the Friday open forum at the EFKS Hall. The restless reaction from the large turnout made it plain, shortly after the forum was convened, they want something done. The convener, lawyer Toleafoa Solomona To’ailoa, read the crowd reaction well, and quickly switched to opinions from the floor after the presentation by the President of the Chamber of Commerce, Klaus Stuntzner, and a representative from SUNGO. The crowd was noticeably quiet when the Chamber of Commerce representative, resorted to a white board to explain the loss in value of LHD vehicles, once Government approves the switch to RHD. He worked out how a new LHD car bought for $60,000 could be sold for $18,000 after 5 to 6 years. He said when the new policy is approved, “that same car will probably be worth only $2,000 or if you’re lucky maybe $5,000.” He also added that the $750 million estimate of the loss to the economy, the Chamber of Commerce initially worked out in their cost and benefit analysis report, is now shown to be more. Reference was made to additional costs that were not factored into the estimates that takes into account new road changes. The stark realities of the facts and figures presented by the President of the Chamber of Commerce, got the crowd going as it became obvious that this was what they wanted to confirm. All the other speakers representing the various business sectors and non Governmental organisation who were initially lined up to speak on the issue, never made it to the podium as the floor was transformed into a wave of people keen to be heard. “It seems the majority of the people here were already aware of the reasons and were eager mainly to know what action to take,” lawyer and forum convener, Toleafoa Solomona To’ailoa, noted afterwards. Amongst the opinions that caught the attention was a call for RHD to be accepted, but on the same side currently used by left hand drive cars. The more emotional reaction calling for people to protest directly to their MPs and the basic democratic right to protest, were quickly cut short by the convener. The call for all public vehicles to organize a boycott of the services on the day of the protest march was also raised. The emotions were already on a high when the question of a protest march was finally put to the vote. A resounding yes, plus an enthusiastic show of hands, decided the path of objection that is now set to follow in just over two weeks from now. Between 800 –1000 people attended the open forum, mainly representing the business community involved in the motor vehicle industry. Cars were parked all along the Mulinu’u road, when parking space outside the Hall filled up before the forum was scheduled to start at 12.00 mid-day. A committee to organize the demonstration is now set up to prepare for the planned protest march when Parliament is in session on the 17 of December. Asked for a comment afterwards, Chamber of Commerce President, Klaus Jr. their contribution to the RHD debate was not political. “I am here to simply explain to the public the facts and figures to support our concern about the policy but not to take any political sides on the issue,” he explained. The Chamber of Commerce made a repeat call on Government last week, to reveal their costings of the switch from LHD to RHD. The Prime Minister however told Newsline there will be a Government cost benefit analysis when the bill is tabled for debate in Parliament. Comments (0) Subscribe to this comment's feed Write comment Name Email Title Comment
Last Updated ( Sunday, 02 December 2007 )

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