Opposition parliamentarian Salote Radrodro said a motion brought to the House yesterday to extend a $455 million government guarantee from three years to 15 years was placing the need to keep aircraft ahead of the desperate situation faced by many Fijians hard hit by COVID-19.

“I mentioned that this motion is very much linked to COVID-19,” she said.

“I would like to ask again the question in our consideration of this motion. Will this guarantee help the reemployment of employees that have been terminated or the unemployment benefits that have been given out?

“Will it assist in putting food on the table of our people? Will it help our people pay the monthly rent of their houses and accommodations? Will it help for their water bills?

“Will it help them pay for their electricity bills? Those are the questions that I’m asking and the people are crying and suffering in pain in regards to the challenges brought about by COVID-19.

“And bringing in this motion to the House and also hearing the contributions of previous speakers, something is sounding out from those presentations – that we are putting more emphasis to the airplanes and not to the human beings.”