Former embattled premier of Rennell and Bellona Province, Lence Tango, has taken his frustration over his sacking against the Provincial Speaker, Norman Sa'o.
This follows recent reports alleging that Tango has ordered his supporters and landowners at Taungagoto, known locally as TNT village, near the headquarters of the Province in West Rennell, to ban the transportation of heavy machinery belonging to a logging company owned by the current Speaker of Provincial Assembly, Norman Sa'o and his cousin, Evan Tuhagenga.
The heavy machines were destined to a new logging concession area in West Rennell, where Sa'o and Tuhagenga, are the principal owners. But the machines were stopped along the way by landowners of TNT village, where the main road runs through it. The villagers have allegedly sent a message to the drivers not to pass through or they will sabotage the machines. It led to a stand-off.
Sa'o, and former premier, Tango, are currently engaging in a political stand-off over the legal legitimacy of a decision by the former to call a provincial assembly meeting to resolve the ongoing political impasse between Tango and his former executive. Despite Tango's decision to boycott the meeting and calling it illegal, a new executive government was appointed and joined by four of his former ministers.
The decision to call the meeting that subsequently led to Tango's sacking simply infuriated the former premier, who reacted by openly calling on the Minister of Provincial government to suspend the newly elected Executive of Rennell and Bellona Province.
The political standoff began a month ago when Tango lost the majority of his supporters in the executive following the resignation of his entire executive but one. It created a political impasse that dragged on for almost a month, allowing Tango to cling on to power and refused to either resign or call for an assembly meeting to determine his numerical strength.
The resignation of the executive members came following local media exposing of Tango’s extravagance life style in one of the five-star hotels in the country, Heritage Park. Media reports revealed that Tango had incurred a hotel bill of $4m within few months at the expense of Bingtang Mining Company of Indonesia, which has an application pending before the national and provincial governments to carry out a mining operation in Rennell Island.
While the political impasse remained deadlock, allegations were also reported in the Rennell and Bellona Provincial Forum (Social Media Page) that former Premier Tango had stalled the process of calling for an assembly meeting as he had secretly offered over $200,000 (SID) to each provincial member, who had resigned to rejoin his government.
Tango last effort to cling on to power came following the revelation of the $4m hotel bill at Heritage Park, where Tango continues to reside until today, at the expense of the Indonesian mining company. The blatant corrupt practices of the former Premier became unbearable for the direct employees of the province, who have not received their salaries for 11 months.
According to reports from TNT village, the landowners’ threat was a result of the sacking of former Premier Tango, who squarely blamed his down fall on the Provincial Assembly Speaker, Sa’o. As a result of the blame game, supporters of Tango at TNT have vented their anger at Sa’o and threatened to sabotage any attempt to transport the machines over the road that runs through their village.
In another twist, Sa'o and Tuhagenga, have been given permission by other landowners in the same village to build a new road through their land to avoid confrontation and ensure that the machines are transported safely to their final destination in the hinterland near Kangua village, West Rennell.
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| Map of Rennell Island (L-R West - East) |
This follows recent reports alleging that Tango has ordered his supporters and landowners at Taungagoto, known locally as TNT village, near the headquarters of the Province in West Rennell, to ban the transportation of heavy machinery belonging to a logging company owned by the current Speaker of Provincial Assembly, Norman Sa'o and his cousin, Evan Tuhagenga.
The heavy machines were destined to a new logging concession area in West Rennell, where Sa'o and Tuhagenga, are the principal owners. But the machines were stopped along the way by landowners of TNT village, where the main road runs through it. The villagers have allegedly sent a message to the drivers not to pass through or they will sabotage the machines. It led to a stand-off.
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| Coast of Rennell Island. |
Sa'o, and former premier, Tango, are currently engaging in a political stand-off over the legal legitimacy of a decision by the former to call a provincial assembly meeting to resolve the ongoing political impasse between Tango and his former executive. Despite Tango's decision to boycott the meeting and calling it illegal, a new executive government was appointed and joined by four of his former ministers.
The decision to call the meeting that subsequently led to Tango's sacking simply infuriated the former premier, who reacted by openly calling on the Minister of Provincial government to suspend the newly elected Executive of Rennell and Bellona Province.
The political standoff began a month ago when Tango lost the majority of his supporters in the executive following the resignation of his entire executive but one. It created a political impasse that dragged on for almost a month, allowing Tango to cling on to power and refused to either resign or call for an assembly meeting to determine his numerical strength.
The resignation of the executive members came following local media exposing of Tango’s extravagance life style in one of the five-star hotels in the country, Heritage Park. Media reports revealed that Tango had incurred a hotel bill of $4m within few months at the expense of Bingtang Mining Company of Indonesia, which has an application pending before the national and provincial governments to carry out a mining operation in Rennell Island.
While the political impasse remained deadlock, allegations were also reported in the Rennell and Bellona Provincial Forum (Social Media Page) that former Premier Tango had stalled the process of calling for an assembly meeting as he had secretly offered over $200,000 (SID) to each provincial member, who had resigned to rejoin his government.
Tango last effort to cling on to power came following the revelation of the $4m hotel bill at Heritage Park, where Tango continues to reside until today, at the expense of the Indonesian mining company. The blatant corrupt practices of the former Premier became unbearable for the direct employees of the province, who have not received their salaries for 11 months.
According to reports from TNT village, the landowners’ threat was a result of the sacking of former Premier Tango, who squarely blamed his down fall on the Provincial Assembly Speaker, Sa’o. As a result of the blame game, supporters of Tango at TNT have vented their anger at Sa’o and threatened to sabotage any attempt to transport the machines over the road that runs through their village.
In another twist, Sa'o and Tuhagenga, have been given permission by other landowners in the same village to build a new road through their land to avoid confrontation and ensure that the machines are transported safely to their final destination in the hinterland near Kangua village, West Rennell.
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