Cr Ngati: What’s next for Vaccination Policy victims?
COUNCILLOR for Honiara City’s Vura Ward, Reginald Ngati has probed the government on what it is planning next for the victims of its ‘No Jab, No Job or No Jab, No School Policy’.
It is understood that hundreds of public servants were forced to quit their employment with the government for failing to cooperate with the vaccination policy.
Besides, more students are now being forced to get vaccinated or even leave school as far as the vaccination policy is concerned.
The Democratic Coalition Government for Advancement (DCGA) imposed the No Jab, No Job policy after the rollout of the Covid-19 vaccination in Solomon Islands in 2021.
Early this year, government owned Solomon Islands National University (SINU) and the Ministry of Education & Human Resources Development (MEHRD) went on to impose the No Jab, No School policy in schools as school reopening looms.
In a recent interview with the local media, Cr Ngati said it is sad that the government has lost many important workers due to the policy and they will be left jobless. The same goes to students from the local university as well as secondary schools in the country.
“In terms of Solomon Islands as a nation, we are really putting the axe on our own human resources.
“People are being axed from their jobs and students are restricted from developing their knowledges and skills at school just for not getting vaccinated,” he said.
Cr Ngati added, imposing this Vaccination Policy means that the country is simply weakening its development aspirations.
“To me, this Vaccination Policy is failing the very people of this nation which any government must regard them as assets to develop the nation economically or in any other aspects of development or nation building.”
He said he thinks that to just leave out someone from his or her job or a student from attending school is like putting the axe on ourselves as citizens of Solomon Islands.
“It is like segregating the Vaccination Policy victims into one corner and advising them to help develop the nation on their own without any access to the public service or the country’s formal education sector.”
With that, Cr Ngati said his question to the government is how is it going to make up for the good that it sees in its human resources who are now victims to the Vaccination Policy it created.
The Vura Ward Councillor went on to suggest that there must be a strategy in place, to cater for the Vaccination Policy victims.
“As a government, it is important because they will still be able to help develop the nation in their expertise or capabilities on another platform.
“Individually, this will help students to continue developing their knowledge and skills through formal education or the government workers can still help the government in their expertise to help develop the country, even if they are not vaccinated.”
Cr Ngati further added, the country has already been a victim to unemployment, therefore to continue and govern Solomon Islands with the Vaccination Policy will only increase the level of unemployment as more people have decided not to get vaccinated.
