NEWSROOM: 05 April - 12 April 2008

‘Wetlands’ talk in Samoa this week
11 April 2008 - Source: SPREP Press Release

The Oceania region will soon come together to develop a stronger Pacific voice at the 10th Conference of the Parties to the Ramsar Convention in October. The Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) is coordinating a two-day preparatory meeting to be held at SPREP headquarters in Apia, Samoa from 10-11 April.

Five Pacific Island countries are a party to the convention that promotes the conservation and wise, sustainable use of wetlands around the world: Fiji, Republic of the Marshall Islands, Republic of Palau, Papua New Guinea and Samoa who will be attending the upcoming preparatory meeting, along with non-party Kiribati who are currently in the process of joining the convention.

“Climate Change is a huge issue as it impacts on many areas, including wetlands. Financing for wetlands conservation in the region is another area that will need to be addressed, as there is currently not much attention given to funding wetlands projects in the Pacific,” said SPREP’s Associate Ramsar Officer Vainuupo Jungblut.

During the two-day meeting, country delegates will have the opportunity to assess progress made in implementing the Ramsar Convention in the Pacific since the last conference (COP9) in 2005. The preparatory meeting will also discuss regional priorities and support needed. These will then be raised at the October conference of the parties, with the view to enhance the implementation of the Convention in the region beyond 2009.

“There is a need to enhance networking and collaboration between Ramsar focal points both at the national and regional levels. We hope that the preparatory meeting will accomplish this and thereby contribute to improved implementation of the convention in the region.”

For further details please contact SPREP’s Associate Ramsar Officer, Vainuupo Jungblut on T: (685) 21929 F: (685) 20321 and E: vainuupoj@sprep.org.

New SHA Executive Board elected
10 April 2008 - Source: Samoa Hotel Association Press Release

At the recent Reconvened Annual General Meeting of the Samoa Hotel Association, a new Executive Board was duly elected. The new leadership promise a proactive stance and will continue to participate and work together with Government and all other sectors to progress responsible Tourism growth and development in Samoa.

The new Executive Board see Mr. Mark Birtwistle of Berties B&B as President, and Ms. Sose Annandale of Sinalei Reef Resort & Spa as Vice President, after serving two consecutive years as President. Ms. Annandale stepped down due to the Constitution requirements permitting only two consecutive terms at any one time. Claus Hermannsen of Samoan Outrigger Hotel is the Treasurer with Mats Loefkvist of Virgin Cove as Secretary.

Pulepule Steve Young (Pasefika Inn), Afoa Amituana'i Mauli (Tatitna Motels) and Pa'u Stan Ah Kam (Apia Central Hotel) returned to complete the Board. "The growth of any NGO is as good as its board. We need experienced and pro-active members that truly understand the issues and are willing to put some time in to ensure we're all heading in the right direction. The past two years under the leadership of Sose have been exciting and challenging and the best part is there was so much support and willingness from our board to participate in so many consultations and other activities required of SHA. I am personally encouraged again by the calibre of the members on our board this year and I look forward to working together with them", says Ms. Sass.

There is much to be done and SHA leads the way as a sector specific non-government organisation which provides support, advice and joint marketing efforts to the National Authority and the airlines thru specials and land packages for the airlines and wholesalers.

SHA has noted significant growth in visitor numbers and increased booking conversions on its On-line booking system at www.samoa-hotels.ws . Ms. Sass says that in 2006, hits on the site numbered over half a million, the 2007 total was 3.5+ million and Jan & Feb 2008 has seen well over 2 Million hits already. This is attributed to the ongoing marketing efforts by Samoa Tourism Authority reps both in Australia and New Zealand which is providing more awareness of Samoa as a safe and attractive destination.
SHA received funding assistance late December 2007 from Pacific Island Trade and Investment Commission in New Zealand, after discussions with the Commissioner Mr. Chris Cocker. In January, SHA launched its Pay Per Click campaign (PPC) on Google NZ and Australia. Ms. Sass is in no doubt that this campaign is instrumental in the high numbers of travellers visiting the Association site and resulting in bookings thereafter.

In response to the many requests from the Savaii based SHA members, the new board have endorsed the recommendation to call its first General Members Meeting in Savaii from the 2-4th May. This will coincide with the first consultation of the Strategic Plan review with the second session to be held in Upolu.

All interested stakeholders and members are encouraged to register their interest to participate in these consultations with the SHA office or by email to info@samoa-hotels.ws or call 30160 during office hours.

Sail installation on alia fishing boats
09 April 2008 - Source: Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries Press Release

A visit took place yesterday, Tuesday 8th April 2008 at 9:00 at the Fisheries Division, between the Prime Minister and cabinet, members of the fishing industry, yacht club and local fishers o witness the result of the new development to the design of the alia fishing boat.

This initiative is the installation of the sail to the alia boat with the purpose to:

• assist with safety aspect of the fishing operation with the hope to alleviate the problem of losing lives at sea and
• assist fishers with the rapid increase in fuel costs.

The sail was designed by a Norwegian Marine Architecture who was working for the Fisheries Division as a Fisheries Advisor in the late 1980s under an FAO contract. The sail was co-funded by the Fisheries and the SPC under the DevFish Project.

The alia boat was mainly designed for surface trolling for small size tuna and bottom hand lining for bottom fish species however the successful introduction of the commercial long line fishery in the mid 1990s saw the small size alia boat been converted to long line fishing.

Trials will be conducted in the coming month by the Fisheries Division in collaboration with the Royal Samoan Yacht Club in order to assess the suitability of the sail design for the alias while the boat is heavily loaded with fishing gears, ice, baits and fuel. If the trials yield good results the demonstrated methods for the rigging and use of the sail will be adopted by the local alia fishermen.

Samoa works to gain access for fruits and vegetables to NZ
08 April 2008 - Source: Radio New Zealand International

A team of senior officers from New Zealand’s Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries is due to visit Samoa next month to further discuss and study the possibility of exporting fruits and vegetables to New Zealand.

Details of the trip follow talks held in Apia over the week-end between New Zealand’s Foreign Affairs Minister, Winston Peters, and Samoa’s Prime Minister, Tuila’epa Sa’ilele Malielegaoi.

Samoa is keen to gain access for fruit and vegetables and New Zealand has offered to provide assistance over quarantine requirements.

Meanwhile two countries have also agreed to share interests in broader security issues in the region.

There is a possibility of the traditional defence and police Mutual Assistance Programme or MAP talks being widened to include other government agencies such as Customs and Immigration.

Asian Development Bank Vice President to visit Samoa
07 April 2008 - Source: Asian Development Bank

Asian Development Bank (ADB) Vice-President C. Lawrence Greenwood Jr. will visit Samoa next week for talks with senior Samoa Government officials and participate in consultations on ADBs assistance to Samoa.

During his first official visit to Samoa, Vice-President Greenwood will meet with Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi, as well as the Ministers of Finance and Works, Transport and Infrastructure. He will discuss ADBs assistance programs, including the Power Sector Expansion Project and support for Samoas efforts to increase the use of information and communications technology (ICT) in education.

Vice-President Greenwood will also meet with private sector representatives, and other development partners, and visit ADB-funded project sites.

Vice-President Greenwood was appointed to his current post in December 2005. He is responsible for operations of the Pacific, Southeast Asia, and East Asia departments, as well as Central Operations Services Office. A career diplomat for nearly 30 years, Vice-President Greenwood has extensive experience in Asia, international finance, development, trade, and investment.

Samoa has received almost $130 million in loans since joining ADB at the banks founding in 1966, ranking it the 26th largest borrower.

Vice-President Greenwood, along with the Hon. Niko Lee Hang, Minister of Finance, and Mr. Yosifusa Shikama, Resident Representative of JICA Samoa, will officially launch a recently approved ADB technical assistance grant to help Samoa meet its development goals and achieve sustainable economic growth.

Samoa is still a traditional society
06 April 2008 - Source: Samoalive News

Walk through the ‘big city’ of Apia in a day and you might just be convinced that Samoans have evolved from the grass skirt era of savagery contentment to that of modern day, fashionable and ‘civilized’ day and age, dominated not by McTaro but by the golden arches of McDonalds, with a dab of bureaucratic delights and a touch of typhoid in the mix. Point being, the Samoa you see today differs greatly to that of even ten years ago. Everything has changed, progressed and somewhat modernized. It’s a big city out there, speaking strictly from a small island, rural village kind of way.

But the emergence of the ie-faitaga with the tie culture coupled with the SUV, tinted windows and squash after work habits really gives off the vibe that Samoa is now a modern day society. It’s easy to be convinced so.

People are wearing shoes, nice ones at that, some wearing pretty pricey pairs to go with pretty expensive outfits. Tables have replaced the woven placemats on the floor in the majority of Apia households. People are driving top of the line vehicles leaving some foreigners jealous of our wheels. Samoans are living it up, nice houses, access to services, surfing the web on an hourly basis, some even doing online shopping from here.

There is very little in terms of products and services that you cannot access from Samoa. This is Paradise with the perks. Open Fales But the question is, does this mean that we are no longer a traditional society when it comes to daily living? Although what we see may indicate a move away from traditional daily life, the facts say otherwise. The majority of families still live in open Samoan fales. According to the latest census, 12,736 houses are still of traditional design, inhabited by local families. However the next most popular houses are open European fales, which indicate that although they have chosen the square pattern and corrugated iron roofing, they still prefer to have an open fale. Most of the housing is still owned by Samoans, so out of 23,756 houses, 22121 are still owned. Rainwater supply In terms of water supply, although most households now have metered tap water, a total of 1497 households still rely on rainwater as their main source of water supply.

Unsurprisingly most of these rainwater dependent households are located on the island of Savaii. More than 2000 households still rely on well/spring water and stored rainwater as their main source of drinking water. Benzene and kerosene is the third source of lighting for families in Samoa, with 827 still relying on the two to use at night. Perhaps further to the proof that we are still a traditional society is the fact that the majority of households still use wood as a source of cooking fuel. Close to 9000 households still rely on wood alone whereas another 10,000 also use wood either with or as an alternative to kerosene, gas, electricity or charcoal. Pit toilets Now here’s the tell all, a little over 3000 households still use the pour flush method in toilet facilities, another 438 use the same method, shared with other families.

Catch this, 1537 still use pit toilets, and another 109 use the same but shared with other families. Intriguingly five families in Samoa do not have toilets, whereas another 91 are ‘not stated.’ So what do all these figures indicate, well, simply that Samoa is still in many ways a traditional society when it comes to where we live, our basic sources of water, electricity and cooking fuel and sanitation methods. Although this may be viewed internationally as poverty, it is in fact the traditional Samoan way of living. Our Civilization It is how we all started, and therefore it is our own interpretation of civilization. Back when there were no material clothes, our grass skirts were an indication of civilization.

Back when we switched our meat from humans to animals; that was, in a sense our own definition of civilization, albeit a savagery at that.

Civilization is not a ‘white man’ concept; so to speak, it is really what we make of it and woe to those who say that the way the majority of our people live is ‘poverty,’ Just because some of our households do not have a flush toilet, a gas oven, a plasma TV and fluorescent lights really do not mean we are poor. If anything it means no power shut down, no shortage of fuel and no plumbing or electrical faults will hinder a days activity.
On that note, good living Samoa.

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