THE failure by the Parliament’s air-conditioning system to produce a right cool condition inside the chamber has been raised in parliament on, Thursday 22nd May.
Parliament is currently debating the ‘Special Economic Zones (SEZ) Bill 2024’ .
The poor air-condition issue was first brought to the Speaker’s attention several weeks ago when Parliament resumed its seating.
This week the matter has once again been raised by some of the MPs.
On Thursday afternoon, the Leader of Opposition Matthew Wale repeatedly raised the matter with the Speaker when contributing to the debates of SEZ Bill.
Wale expressed concern with the humidity condition inside the chamber saying its not helpful when debating the Bill.
Even Prime Minister Jeremiah Manele also acknowledged the concern raised by Wale.
Parliament was adjourned to – Friday 23rd May.
Soon after the Speaker left the chamber, some of the officials can be spotted removing their official coats because of the heat.
Over the past days, some of the officials inside the chamber were using papers as a fan to cool themselves due because of the situation affecting the air-condition system inside the chamber.
A local listener said, debating inside a chamber where the condition is hot is not helpful for the law makers.
“No wonder some of the MPs were absent from the chamber most of the time. Something got to be done soon to address this situation,” he said.
The National Parliament Chamber was built in 1993 as a gift from the United States (US) Government. The first meeting was held in November 1993.
It was designed as a memorial to US servicemen who died in the Battle of Guadalcanal.
