By Tupuola Terry Tavita

Arguments not to pull down what is supposed to be the old Parliament building at Ti’afau is driven more by misinformation and misplaced sentiment than commonsense.

In fact, we could fathom that those arguing to keep it have never been inside the dilapidating shell of a building in recent years.

When the new Parliament House at Ti’afau opened in 1972, virtually all the furniture at the old Parliament afolau was moved to either the Lands and Title’s office at Mulinu’u or the Prime Minister’s Office at the old German headquarters on Beach Road. They have since disappeared over the years.

The old Parliament House was renovated – in fact several times since – to house the traditional arbitrary section of the Lands and Titles courts.

From the cracked concrete floor to the rotting posts to the rusty tin roof and broken faucet at the back, there is nothing there that dates back to 1^st January, 1962, when the Samoan flag was first raised – by itself – at Ti’afau.

When you contemplate preserving such old buildings, one has to ask several questions.

Is there anything there worth preserving? Will it last another 50 years? What is the alternative?

There is nothing at the old – or what was the location – of the old Parliament building worth preserving, this column reckons. It certainly wil not last another five years, never mind 50 years. The alternative is, we opened a new Fale Fono in 1972 and since has been Samoa’s seat of Parliament.

There are old photos of the old Parliament House in 1962 and even before that. The same should be done with the revised 2012 and dilapidating version. Save it on film, store it in the archives then pull it down.

Ti’afau is undergoing complete landscaping and tens of thousands of people are expected there in June. The revised version has got to go.

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