Gagaifomauga 3 allocates $100,000 for students’ fees under Village Project

Staff Reporters

APIA, SAMOA – 23 MARCH 2023: College and tertiary students of the Gagaifomauga No 3 constituency in Savai’i have $100,000 tala available to help pay for their school fees for the rest of the 2023 school year.

The funds have been allocated by the District Council for a Scholarship Scheme under the $1m dollar Village Development Project.

The constituency’s Member of Parliament and Minister of Agriculture, Laaulialemalietoa Leuatea Polataivao, said the scheme requires the student and parents to sign an agreement with the Committee and the fees will be paid directly to the college or university.

“This is one of the most important investments by our constituency, to make sure our young people are well educated,” said the Minister.

He said there is a high drop-out rate of students in their constituency because the parents simply cannot pay their childrens’ fees mainly at the National University. Under the Scheme, no money will go to the parents and the Committee will monitor the students’ performance and progress through the end of year results.

“The student and parents need to report back to the Committee with the students’ results at the end of the year and will determine future assistance to help complete the students’ studies,” said Laauli.

TRUCK LOADS OF FARMING TOOLS DISTRIBUTED
Under their latest funding allocation of the Village Development Project, the farmers and families in the constituency also received a major boost to their development efforts when each of the 240 families of the four villages of the constituency, received farming tools and fencing material to protect their crops from wild pigs.

One truck load of barbed wire and accessories for cattle farmers in the constituency.

Seven truckloads of farming tools such as barbed wire, fencing wire, wheelbarrows, bushknives, shovels, crowbars, nails, hammers and planting tools were distributed to the 240 families in the constituency today.

One of the major problems that farmers are facing is wild pigs; hence the need for fencing to protect their crops or fencing to keep their pigs enclosed.

In giving out the tools and materials to each family, the recipients signed an agreement with the Committee so that they take care and look after the materials as their own, and use them well and for the purpose they were given.

The materials were funded from the third allocation for actual projects approved by the constituency. Laauli said that, his constituency has satisfied the requirements for the $1million tala project with initial $200,000 to set up the office, $150,000 to fund operations and pay the Committee allowances and staff salaries. That leaves a balance of $425,000 for further projects in the current financial year.

The wheelbarrows in a dedicated colour for each of the four villages of the constituency.

The $1m dollar project is a FAST Government initiative and has been discredited by the Opposition when it was first promoted ahead of the 2021 general elections.

The project also encountered delays as the project guidelines were laid out. Constituencies holding Opposition seats also gave the project a hard time causing further delays.

Gagaifomauga 3 is one of several constituencies that signed out their funding allocations this week for projects that range for buying buses needed to transport children to school in remote villages, to an incentive bonus scheme to push farmers to grow long term crops such as cocoa, kava and coconuts.

According to Laauli, “There has been so much misinformation spread around to discredit the project that it is all lies, this project will never be and nothing will happen. Well this is it. This is the evidence.” (pointing to the truckloads of farming tools and materials for his constituency).

HEAVY MACHINERY
Also delivered to the constituency this week are heavy machinery that are also for the constituency. Laauli explains that the equipment came under a separate development project.
The constituency had been leasing part of their land to overseas investors and the heavy equipment is part of one of the investment projects.

He said that the equipment can also help out to improve and maintain the access and farms roads for the constituency.

Some of the heavy machinery under a separate project can also help out improve the access and farm roads in the constituency.