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Atiu mayor Aneru Tautu should stop worrying about the island’s budget because he is unlikely to be mayor for much longer, says MP Norman George.
And he says he cannot understand why Tautu is criticising government’s decision to supply the island with over $100,000 worth of machinery over the next few months.
A weekly newspaper report last week accused government of interfering in Atiu affairs and quoted the mayor as questioning the legality of government purchasing the machinery under Constitution Amendment No 22 (1997). The story was unbalanced and unfair and made no attempt to present both sides of the issue, George says.
Tautu claimed the machinery, which will be used to complete a number of important infrastructure projects, was not a priority for Atiu and said the water crisis was at the top of the list.
But George says he and fellow Atiu MP Upoko Simpson are the ones who fight for the Atiu budget in Cabinet and at Parliament, and Tautu has never contributed to final budget decisions.
“When all mayors in the Cook Islands are on their knees begging Government to supply them with much-needed equipment for infrastructural development, the Atiu mayor questions government’s decision to buy some for the island.
“The Atiu mayor is an embarrassment. No-one really knows what he wants and I believe the island would be much better without him. Every time we come up with major developments for the island he questions them.”
The Ukaveu sports stadium is a good example, George says.
“First he did not want to have anything to do with it, so we went ahead without him. The moment all the preparations were completed and the groundwork done, he jumped on the bandwagon.
“Now he is concerned about the future of the Atiu budget. But that is not his concern.”
George says both he and Simpson are sick of Tautu acting as former Atiu mayor Roger Malcolm’s puppet.
“They both hate government giving jobs to our young people. They both complain that young people are leaving the island because we spoon feed them.
“What utter rubbish. When he was mayor, Malcolm spent most of his time obstructing our hard work. When we succeeded in getting a new barge for Atiu, Malcolm interfered and wanted two dinghy-sized aluminium boats. I believe he enjoys complaining for the sake of it.”
George claims Tautu is Malcolm’s mouthpiece and says it is time he thought for himself.
“Nothing is good enough for the people of Atiu. I am continually accused of spoiling them and diverting too many government resources to Atiu. That is total rubbish – it’s poobah mentality.
“Tautu should stop worrying about our next budget because he won’t even be mayor after the next local government elections.
“The Konitara and people of Atiu are sick and tired of crazy flip-flop mayors.” |
