Thursday 26: Canadian civil engineer volunteers to help

Dear Editor,

My wife and I have been visiting the Cook Islands since 1992. Since I retired from the consulting engineering business, we have been coming for two months to escape our cold winters in Canada.

We read the Cook Islands News every day and take a keen interest in the local issues. It is surprising how many things are similar to back home: potholes, environmental concerns, public vs private sector ownership of services and facilities, government spends too much on this, not enough on that.

I know that as a visitor it is not my place to comment on local issues, but there are times when I find it difficult to resist.

I find the recent comments by the president of your Chamber of Commerce most interesting; also Deputy Prime Minister Sir Terepai’s response. Sir Terepai is disappointed that the chamber is critical of government. I have been very involved in the Chamber of Commerce back home. One of the functions of an active Chamber of Commerce is to be vocally critical of government when the chamber believes that the actions or intents of government are not in the best interests of the chamber members or the public at large.

I was here a year ago during the controversy over the Chinese loan for a Chinese designed and built stadium.

I have worked on a number of international aid projects and it is most unusual to have one party as financier, designer and builder, apparently without a transparent contractor pre-qualification and tendering process and apparently without independent third-party design review and construction quality control. By third-party I mean a qualified, highly experienced structural engineer and/or

architect.

Normally on a project of this nature the government would retain such expertise to ensure that the design, materials selection, workmanship and so forth are of adequate quality. I have visited the construction site but my area of expertise is not structural engineering.

I understand that the Cook Islands Government has now gone a further $50m in debt to the Chinese. Whether the loan is concessional or soft the long-term debt is still there. Chamber of Commerce president Steve Anderson is reported as saying that it would be naïve to think that China does not have a strategic interest in the Cooks.

I would go further and suggest that if the Cook Islands government continues on its present course and the long-term debt to China is allowed to increase, and without a viable long-term programme for repayment,

there will come a point where the debt will be such that China will own the Cook Islands. But of course, that’s the plan.

I note that the latest loan is for infrastructure: roads, drainage, water supply, and sanitation. As a professional engineer, this is exactly my area of expertise. I have 40 years of experience at it, including in tropical conditions and including difficult contractors.

I would volunteer to come back and to the best of my ability assist with infrastructure problems and if necessary sort out any design/contractor problems, which might arise.

I would even, if asked, approach CIDA, the Canadian International Development Agency, to fund such an initiative. Your Chinese partners might not like it, but the whole world is aware of China’s strategic moves in the Pacific region.

Anyhow, having been a visitor here for the past 17 years, I do feel a connectivity with Raro.

Please forgive an outsider for poking my nose into your stuff.

Yours respectfully

Bob Foster

Tikoki

Editor: Mr Foster can be contacted on 26518, but he leaves the island this weekend. Anyone genuine wanting his contact details in Canada should contact CINews.