The official opening of the new parliament building moved to next year
The official opening of the $5 million dollars new parliament building has been moved to the beginning of next year, Premier Dalton Tagelagi informed the Fono Ekepule yesterday.
Assemblyman from Lakepa John Tiakia asked Premier Tagelagi if the reason for postponing the official opening is because of the delays in construction.
However, the Premier assured the Fono Ekepule that the reason for moving the official opening of the new Fale Fono to next year is because the government would like to have senior government officials from New Zealand present at the opening. Premier Tagelagi told the Assembly that he would like to invite the Prime Minister of New Zealand as the donor of the building to be here for the opening.
It’s understood that the government had intended the official opening to take place during the 37th Constitution celebrations in October this year.
Premier Tagelagi has confirmed though that there will be a soft opening and some of the offices will be in use before the official opening.
Two years ago, the late Premier Sir Toke Talagi officially unveiled a plaque to commemorate the blessing of the site for the new parliament building funded by the New Zealand government to the tune of $5 million dollars.
The building is being constructed by New Zealand company Doug the Builder and is supposed to withstand category five cyclones. The building is to house the Chambers of the Niue Legislative Assembly and the Offices of Cabinet.
Initially planned to be completed in sixty weeks according to the project manager Api Fiso two years ago, but since the pandemic that timeframe has changed a number of times.
The picture taken today shows that the building is at least months away from completion.
