Kenilorea speaks out against bringing ‘sensitized’ TRC Report to Parliament

MEMBER of East Are’Are Hon Peter Kenilorea has raised concerns with the Government’s strategy to bring a ‘sensitized’ summary of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission report to Parliament.

Hon Kenilorea said the Government should not bring a sensitized or sanitized report to Parliament but instead deal with the Five Volume TRC Report that was already tabled in Parliament.

It is understood the Government has already distributed copies of the summarized version titled ‘Rising from the Ashes’.

It is a shorter version of the original document, which did not include names of the alleged perpetrators involved, and other sensitive issues that were raised in the original Five Volume Report.

The East Are’Are MP told Parliament last week that a summarized or sensitized report robs the whole purpose of digging deeper into the Truth and Reconciliation Reports.

“We can all read into what it means to be sensitized, sanitized. It would seem to me that it will be a summary that is sensitive to the context that we are in. And that is understandable. But, at the same time it also deprives us of deep dives or even deeper dive into the Truth and Reconciliation Reports,” he said.

The Opposition MP urged the Government to treat the report with the dignity and respect that it deserves.

“Having this report being born out of one of the darkest if not the darkest period of our young nation. I am concerned that by rushing over and looking and considering an executive summary report might deprive us of some of the substantive matters that we need to also delve into and deal with,” Hon Kenilorea said.

Meanwhile, another Opposition MP and Member of Parliament for West Kwaio Hon Claudio Teiifi has also shared similar sentiments in Parliament that the original TRC Report must be dealt with so that the government can be questioned and held accountable on what it has done so far in addressing the recommendations in the TRC Report.

ENDS//