Dear Editor,

The Government has come up with this so-called brilliant idea to spend $7.5 billion to build a new Parliament building at a time when infrastructure throughout the country is falling apart.

Bridges have fallen into disrepair all over the country and are not being repaired in a timely manner. Hospitals are short of beds, ambulances, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machines, and other diagnostic equipment.

Farmers are suffering because of the lack of proper roads and water to irrigate their farms. Classrooms in our schools are overcrowded and 30 per cent of our children are unable to read and write upon graduating. Also, a ramshackle and inefficient transportation system still exists with buses that are old and poorly maintained.

I daresay, with the country facing so many challenges, wouldn’t it be a better idea for the Government to use that money to fix some of these problems. If farmers are given better roads and water, they would produce more and be better able to feed the nation and export to other countries.

Our education system also needs to be improved by offering more technological and technical courses to enable our students to compete in this technology-driven economy. If all these fundamental issues are addressed, I am sure we would see more benefits to the country on a whole than to build a costly new Parliament building to facilitate more of the disgraceful behaviour from our politicians.

It’s about time taxpayers have a say in which projects should be undertaken with our hard-earned money. A healthy and educated society, coupled with good infrastructure and strong leadership, would definitely be more productive.

Peter Hutchinson

myviews50@hotmail.com