Staff in parlt will exercise caution: Konivaro

National

By HELEN TARAWA
STAFF in Parliament will exercise caution today when it opens its doors for the first sitting of 2019, says Clerk to Parliament Vela Konivaro.
He told The National that while security arrangements would be “normal”, extra measures would be taken because of the incident involving some members of the disciplined forces there in November.
“The damage to the Parliament building is still to be (fixed) so it will be open only to staff and Members of Parliament for the session,” he said.
“A lot of the damaged areas have not be maintained, so we might have to exercise caution for the general public and enforce some restrictions.”
Police and prison officers had stormed into Parliament to protest the delay in the payment of their allowances incurred while providing security during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Leaders’ Summit in November.
Konivaro said Parliament was concerned about the sensitive nature of the incident.
“We are sensitive about the event that happened recently and whether or not those aggrieved parties have been paid is our concern,” he said.