Government suspends funds to 10 districts under the $1m Development Project

By Lagi Keresoma

APIA, SAMOA – 16 JANUARY 2023: The Government has suspended the disbursement of further funds under the $1million Village Development project to 10 constituencies.

The Minister of Agriculture & Fisheries and a member of the District Development Project Steering Committee, Laaulialemalietoa Leuatea Polataivao clarified that these districts have breached the conditions set down in the guidelines on utilizing the first disbursement of $200,000 talā to establish the offices, operations and staff salaries.

“If they cannot be accountable for the $200,000, how can they be accountable for the rest of the $1 million,” said Laauli.

He said the conditions for the $200,000 guideline was for at least $132,000 to establish an office, $32,000 for the operations including water and electricity bills, another $30,000 for salaries and allowances.

However, Laauli said some of the districts reports stated that they have used the funds for offices but when the representatives of the Ministry of Woman Community & Social Development (MWCSD) which the project is under visited the districts, there were no offices.

Some of the 10 districts now under investigation include Lepā, Aana No.2, Falelatai & Samatau, Faleata 3 and Sagaga 1. For the Lepā district, Laauli said they claimed $94,000 had been given to the EFKS church for the lease of part of their hall for the district office.

Laauli said if the lease is at Lepā, why give Saleapaga and Aufaga, other sub-villages of Lepā district $20,000 each as an advance for the lease?

He said nothing in the guideline identifies such allocation and by doing that, Lepā has breached the conditions.

Laauli talking to media about the Governments decision to withhold the disbursement of further funds.

As for Aana No 2, the committee has terminated the FAST member, Lolomatauama Eseta who was the Deputy Chair of the committee.

“This was the concern from the beginning and the reason why we insisted that a FAST member has to be a Deputy Chair especially in districts where the Chairman is a Member of Parliament for the Human Rights Protection Party (HRPP),” said Laauli.

He said the $1m development project is a FAST initiative and a FAST member should be in their committees.

For some districts, no FAST member competed in the general election and the whole project is dominated by HRPP members.

Despite the issues of concern involving the 10 districts, Laauli said it will not stop the project progressing in the rest of the constituencies who are keeping to the project guidelines.

“The program will continue as planned,” he said.

Out of the 51 districts, 8 have satisfied the first phase of the $1m District Development Project and have received $575,000 to start the projects that the constituencies have identified.

The latest constituency to open its Council Office on Saturday 14 January was  Faleata No.4.