I am prompted to write about water once more after hearing the Prime Minister referring to these issues again in his Constitution Day speech, writes Michael Tavioni BEM.

I agree with him that it is a very important issue. I write my own opinion in the hope that the Prime Minister and the government will consider other obvious ways of getting the extra finance they need to finance the water supply and their other obligations.

The cost of the delivery of good, clean, safe water to the people of Rarotonga has been a major issue for some time now. As I have mentioned before, supplying water to the people of Rarotonga was never an issue until the development of the tourism industry reached a certain point where the demand for water exceeded supply.

This means that more water has to come from somewhere in order to cater for the substantial increase in demand – or some people’s need for water will have to be restricted in order to ensure that the need of commercial enterprises for water can be sustained.

Our government or any other government can generate extra revenue to fund whatever project they wish to pursue and there are other ways to do this. Taxing our people for the water they need in order to continue living is the worst option government can choose. I need to repeat myself: By putting a monetary value on water, government is in fact diminishing the true value of this life-giving element.

Firstly, it restricts our farmers’ ability to produce food. Food security is essential for the survival of the people of any country. The people of the Cook Islands are more than 80 per cent dependent on imported food and have been for a long time now.

Do not take my word for it, just take note of what you eat each day. These processed, imported foods and beverages are one of or perhaps the main reasons that non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are the number one killer of the Cook Islands people.

Because of this, I would say to the government that one of the best options to try and resolve NCDs is not to tax but rather to allow our farmers to get all the water they need for their work, while at the same time helping them with farming advice and finance in order to help them increase productivity. The hope is that this will help the country achieve some degree of food security.

I also have to say that if the government continues to push the issue of taxing people for water, then I wonder if it might not be absurd to imagine that next this same government will tax our people for the air we breathe.

I believe that the government has the ability to get the extra funds they need to finance their water projects without charging the public directly.

The delivery of water by our government to people’s homes has been efficient and safe for more than 70 years now. This public service, which has been carried out by various governments over the years, has always been paid for with public money. This means money belonging to the citizens of this country.

Every year, the budget for the coming financial year is submitted to Parliament. The government consists of branches known as departments. The Health department, the Education department, the Prime Minister’s department, the Public Works department, the Internal Affairs department and so on. Within each department are divisions. The Water Works used to be a division in the Public Works department, but with regard to ‘To Tatou Vai’, I am a bit confused about whether it is still part of the Public Works or if it is a new department.

I can see in their budget online that the To Tatou Vai payroll for the year 2024 is just under $2 million and for 2025 it is about $2.25 million, with Water Intake Expenses sitting at roughly $0.5 million.

The interesting part of this budget is that while there is a category for Repairs And Maintenance, no money has been allocated under this category for either year.

I can remember that for decades, there used to be a person from the Water Works allocated to certain parts of the villages, whose job every working day was to visit each home in their allocated area to check on any taps or pipes that were leaking – and they would fix those leaks straight away, stopping the wastage of water.

Now, thousands of litres of water are leaking into the ground every day. If some people are hired to do this service again it will be money well worth spending.

• Mitaera Ngatae Teatuakaro Michael Tavioni BEM is a Cook Islands artist and writer. The views expressed in this article are his and do not necessarily reflect the views of this newspaper.