{"id":4985,"date":"2021-03-08T00:34:10","date_gmt":"2021-03-07T10:34:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/talamua.com\/?p=4985"},"modified":"2021-03-08T00:34:10","modified_gmt":"2021-03-07T10:34:10","slug":"government-swift-to-investigate-fast-mps-not-the-measles-crisis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/talamua.com\/?p=4985","title":{"rendered":"Government Swift to Investigate FAST MPs & not the Measles Crisis"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Mother

A mother and child on her baby’s grave on the measles epidemic anniversary.<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

By Lagi Keresoma<\/p>\n

APIA, SAMOA – 08 MARCH 2021: <\/strong>The Chairman of the Fa\u2019atuatua I le Atua Samoa ua Tasi – FAST<\/strong> Party, La\u2019aulialemalietoa Leuatea Polata\u2019ivao claims the Government has been swift to call for a Commission of Inquiry to investigate three of their members and Fiam\u0113 Naomi Mataafa, yet ignored the many calls for an investigation into the 83 lives lost in the measles crisis of 2019.<\/p>\n

The investigation against the four MPs was moved by the Prime Minister on Parliaments last day before it was dissolved last Wednesday.<\/p>\n

The motion calls for a Commission of Inquiry to investigate the MP\u2019s absence from Parliament session and alleged \u201ctreasonous\u201d remarks made during the FAST road show campaign.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe has been swift to move to set up a Commission to investigate us, but we have been calling for a Commission to investigate the Measles epidemic that claimed more than 80 babies\u2019 lives,\u201d said La’auli.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe does not want it because such an inquiry will reveal Government\u2019s failure and incompetence because had they acted on the recommendations early, those young lives would not have been lost unnecessarily,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\"Laauli\"

FAST Party Chairman, Laaulialemalietoa Leuatea Polataivao.<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

La\u2019auli made reference to Fiam\u0113 raising the measles issue again a week before Parliament\u2019s dissolution and the Prime Minister said to stop beating a dead horse.<\/p>\n

\u201cEighty three children died and how could he say to stop beating a dead horse?\u201d<\/p>\n

He also referred to one of Tuilaepa\u2019s interviews on state owned radio program when he was asked about a possible lockdown when 15 people had been affected.<\/p>\n

His response was \u201cuiki, uiki,\u201d<\/em> meaning the numbers are small.<\/p>\n

During his first press conference after the lock down 5 December 2019, he told the local media that he wanted to speak first in English to the foreign journalists\u00a0\u201cto attract assistance from overseas.\u201d<\/p>\n

La\u2019auli also questioned why the Government did not heed the recommendation from the Commission\u00a0that investigated the deaths of two children at Safotu district hospital in 2018 for an immediate mass immunization campaign given Samoa\u2019s very low coverage.<\/p>\n

La\u2019auli believes all these issues warrant a Commission of Inquiry into the measles crisis to find out who is at fault or what was not done right.<\/p>\n

But the Prime Minister said there is no need for another Inquiry \u201cas the answers are already known,\u201d and he shifted the blame on the parents for not acting to have their children vaccinated.<\/p>\n

\u201cYet, all of a sudden there is money to conduct a Commission of Inquiry on us and I know he was still looking for something to pin me down,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He is not the only one calling for a COI into the measles epidemic.<\/p>\n

During the Tautua Samoa Party\u2019s rally last month, several members of the public that attended called for an Investigation into the measles crisis if they become the Government.<\/p>\n

But the most of the calls are coming from the mothers of some of the children that died.<\/p>\n

One mother told Talamua<\/em> that she has so many unanswered questions and she needs an Inquiry to give her some answers and closure.<\/p>\n

A mother who lost three children to the measles epidemic, also lost her father in law a month after and her husband has been having an emotional breakdown since their children\u2019s deaths.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Lagi Keresoma APIA, SAMOA – 08 MARCH 2021: The Chairman of the Fa\u2019atuatua I le Atua Samoa ua Tasi – FAST Party, La\u2019aulialemalietoa Leuatea Polata\u2019ivao claims the Government has been swift to call for a Commission of Inquiry to investigate three of their members and Fiam\u0113 Naomi Mataafa, yet ignored the many calls for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4986,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[183,177,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4985","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health","category-latest","category-politics"],"yoast_head":"\nGovernment Swift to Investigate FAST MPs & not the Measles Crisis - 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