What in the world is the cabinet thinking by proposing to build a house for the Speaker of the House? This is yet another example of the government wanting to spend money unnecessarily and only to benefit another party member. This money is better spent elsewhere.

From the onset, this proposal by La'auli Leuatea Schmidt, Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries only looks politically motivated and perhaps just a move to ensure that a million dollars are set aside for something that will not benefit the country.

According to La'auli, the rationale behind the proposal emphasises the need for parity in the treatment of the three arms of government; parliament, judiciary, and executive.

"The position of the Speaker of the House is of paramount importance and deserves to be accorded the same level of respect and recognition," La'auli emphasised.

The minister is saying that the Speaker is not being accorded the same level of respect as the Prime Minister and Chief Justice are. All three of these positions are in the constitution and all of them for the past years have commanded the same respect.

The Prime Minister as the elected leader, the Chief Justice as the head of the judiciary, and the Speaker as the man in charge of Parliament are respected, what does a house have to do with respect?

Many other things could be done with the money that would be spent on the house. Teachers need to be paid better, and so do the nurses, children could do with free education and the big hospital definitely could do with repairs.

Would the Speaker sleep better in a new house or knowing that sick people admitted to the hospital do not have to worry about rain because of leaking roofs? La’auli as a cabinet minister should be doing things for the people of this nation and not for the politicians.

The minister could spend the same amount buying free seedlings and distributing them to farmers so yields could be bigger. Now that would be good spending.

There are countless children on the streets forced to sell items by their parents, this same money could end up paying fees for some of these children to make sure that they have a better future.

There are so many things that would be an investment rather than a house. As it is the government is trying to hold back on spending. This can be seen with the government mostly relying on aid money for major projects instead of going into loans.

Will the house for the Speaker be directly funded by the government or a project that would be pushed ahead of other more urgent projects that require aid? There is a wharf that is lying broken and becoming a danger to the people of Apolima. How about this money be used to make a new wharf in Apolima?

There is no juvenile housing facility to detain young offenders even those who commit very serious offences. For example, the 15-year-old who allegedly stabbed a taxi driver in the neck cannot be detained because of the lack of a facility and there is no juvenile prison as well. As a result, these young offenders become repeat offenders.

Water supply in some areas needs to be improved and investment here would be a good idea. This way the money intended to benefit one person could help out an entire community. There is another thought, that is to build smaller solar farms that could power up to 100 homes at a time instead of asking overseas companies to set up and sell back the power at a higher price.

There is a sense one gets that the move to build the Speaker a house is just to reward a party member. What is one way the parliament would become more efficient if the Speaker is given a house at the expense of the taxpayers’ money?

It is high time such government spending is stopped and the focus is put on where a change would be brought about and the common people of this nation would benefit. At the end of the day, it is about the people.