Government reactivates Steering Committee for the District Development Project

Apia, Samoa – 29 September 2025: One of the Government’s first move within 10 days in office is to reinstate the Steering Committee for the District Development Project that was dissolved by the previous government.

The Acting Prime Minister, Mulipola Anarosa Ale Molio’o confirmed the Governments move citing the importance of the Committee’s function to vet and monitor the project’s guidelines.

“Cabinet endorsed the reinstatement of the Steering Committee that will comprise several Cabinet Ministers and members of the community who will be part of the Steering Committee,” she said.

Initiated by the FAST Government in 2021, the $1m District Development Project established a Steering Committee that guided and monitored the project that decentralized the identification of community based projects, and their implementation and management to the village and community leaders.

Because it was a new initiative, the project faced many issues in the beginning including opposition from the opposition political party MPs who were short of blocking the projects progress.

Then following a division within the FAST party and the termination of several Cabinet Ministers, the then Prime Minister turned on the Steering Committee and dissolved it, giving only two Cabinet Ministers the full power to approve and release funds under the project.

Mulipola as Minister of Women, Community and Social Development and then Chair of the DDP project inspecting a vegetable gardening project for communities with limited land near Apia  town area.

Now ten days into office, the new FAST Government under Prime Minister Laaulialemalietoa Leuatea Polataivao Fosi Schmidt is restoring the Steering Committee and is also holding off the implementation of the project for sometime while it undergoes a review.

An internal investigation by the Ministry in charge of the Project between July and August this year, identified some high risk cases that have been referred for investigation by the Ministry of Finance of suspected breaches of the use of project funds.

Mulipola said the Steering Committee will have its first meeting this week.

She also confirmed that all 51 districts will be notified by the Ministry of Women, Community and Social Development (MWSDC) through letters of the interim decision.

Mulipola explained that the Chairperson for the district project was the district Member of Parliament, however, some were unsuccessful in the recent elections, and this is probably causing uncertainty to some districts on where the project stands now.

“There is a need to review the project guidelines, and the Chairpersons of all districts need to prepare an updated report and stock take of all assets and clarify the issue of land and office leases for the District Council Offices as some are located on land that belong to former MPs,” Mulipola explained.

She said these are issues that need to be clarified to Cabinet especially now that the District Development Project budget allocation will be increased to $2M a year per constituency, and the project need to go through review before the continuation.