Tuala-uta lawmaker Representative Vui Florence Saulo has again pleaded with the Speaker of the House to consider an alternative means of communication to publicize what election faipule are doing in the House for their constituents.
Vui, the only female member of the House has previously questioned why the Fono sessions are not televised on the government tv station. KVZK -TV.
Yesterday the lawmaker suggested a Fono bulletin pointing out that the local media cannot report everything that goes on in legislative session.
No other faipule complains more about media coverage than Vui.
While acknowledging efforts by the media to keep the public informed of what goes on in the Fono, she said its not enough because the media repeatedly highlights other faipule’ issues while the others are not getting the same attention.
She pointed out she does not want her district to wonder what they are doing in the Fono and perhaps thinking that some of them are sleeping on the job,
House Speaker Savali Talavou Ale pointed out that the media has their own agenda which dictates how they carry out their duties.
He indicated that if the majority of the faipule wish to televise their sessions then, it should not be a hard decision.
However, as he has explained in the past, there are reasons for his reluctance to air House sessions but did not elaborate,
In precious discussions on this issue the speaker has said he does not want to expose behavior and statements unbecoming of the status of House representatives which he has witnessed from some faipule.
Yesterday Savali told the lady of the house that if her name is not mentioned by the media, then it’s up to her to question them.
Rep. Vui also raised concerns about recent suicides involving involving young men.
She said while the Department of Public Safety has done their work, she felt that the Fono should also try and see what is really happening.
She commented that while police have determined suicide as the cause of death for the two male victims, she saw that one of the victims has bruises all over his body.
Vice Speaker Fetu Fetui Jr. said that if anyone wants to be a policeman, they can go ahead and resign and join the force.
The Vice Speaker reminded his colleagues that their job is to create laws.
Rep. Vui. who is the new chair of the House Public Works Committee is leading a hearing tomorrow morning with the Director of Public Works Faleosina Voigt to follow up on several proposed projects.
