BY BEN BILUA
GIZO residents have described the proposed increase in members’ of Parliament entitlement as ‘insane and unjustifiable’.
An interview carried out by Island Sun in the street of Gizo found that all the interviewees were against the proposal.
Out of 10 interviewed, 10 said that they are against the proposal saying that it is an unjustified proposal.
Most of the people spoken to refuse to give their names.
Only two respected leaders, Jeffrey Wickham and Mrs Rendy Solomon consented to have their names published along with their statements.
Wickham said the proposal is unfounded and makes no sense given that the country’s economy is still struggling.
He adds that the proposal and those who compound such proposal must be out of their minds.
“Our country is still recovering from the economic effect of COVID-19 and this proposal comes in. What?
“I heard that we have a cash flow problem so where the hell will we find extra fund to put into this entitlements.
“Look at our investment, there is no new foreign investors. Our economy is surviving on old investors.
“Our old investors are grinding every corner of their business to pay their tax and other duties.
“Government should do an extra job to milk money for the economy rather than trying to milk money from our dying economy.
“This is one of the impractical proposal that I ever came across and to me, the proposal is unjustifiable,” Wickham said.
Rendy shared similar sentiment saying the proposal best describes “Self-Serving”.
She questioned as to why MPs’ entitlement continues to increase while there is no such arrangement for public servants.
“Public Service never had an increase in their entitlement but they continue to do their best in making sure their duties are carried out.
“But, if we look at our national leaders, some of them are there just to enjoy people’s tax money.
“Our leaders have been sitting in their comfort zone year in year out and yet they want to increase their entitlement. Can they tell me the reason behind this 10 percent increase entitlements?
Such huge amount of money should go towards important services that have been on halt due to lack of financial support.
“Most Area Health Centers within the country have closed. People are dying from curable diseases and yet MPs want their entitlements increased?
“This is unfair and a mockery to the citizen of this country,” Rendy said.
She hopes and pray that one day the national leaders will come to their senses and start prioritizing the need of the people before their own interests.
