A double cab 4 wheel drive, left hand drive went into a drain at Tuana’imato yesterday afternoon. Another taxi, a Corolla left hand drive drove on the main road and was hit by Deputy Speaker Leuatea La’auli Polataivao’s vehicle.
The driver of the Deputy Speaker’s car was a man in his 50s. Witness Va’a Tuilagi said the driver of the twin cab “went straight on the main road from the intersection without stopping.” Another witness who did not want to be named told the same story.
He said the twin cab sped into the main road from the intersection. The police are investigating.
A Cabinet minister has been admitted to Tupua Tamasese Meaole Hospital with injuries reportedly suffered in a car accident. It reportedly includes a broken leg. A member of his household said Minister of Education, Sports and Culture, To’omata Alapati Po’ese, was in hospital.
But he said he didn’t know why. At the hospital the Samoa Observer was reliably informed To’omata was a patient in Acute 7 ward with an injured leg. Radio New Zealand International said yesterday To’omata’s left leg was broken when a rental car he was driving left the road in Savai’i on Saturday. He had surgery on his leg at the hospital at Tuasivi. It isn’t known where the accident occurred.
It isn’t known when the minister was transferred to TTM Hospital. It was not possible yesterday to get comment from the Police.
To’omata was in Savai’I to visit family and his constituency of Salega, RNZI said. In the meantime two reliable sources say the Police are investigating another traffic accident involving the Minister of Education.
Death trap: The shattered bus minutes after yesterday's crash. Photo: Episipa Karla.
At least six people are dead after a bus crashed at Solosolo yesterday afternoon. The death toll was confirmed by the Commissioner of Fire and Emergency Services Authority, Seve Tony Hill.
He did not elaborate. But an eyewitness, Jason Tamali’i, of Solosolo, said the scene was unbelievable. The bus, Lady Analofa was heading from town towards Lalomauaga, the eastern side of Upolu.
“I could tell the bus had rolled over because the wheels were still spinning when I got there,”
he said.
“I started to pull people from under the bus, because they were screaming. A lot of people died in the accident, but we got most of the people out.”
Mr Tamali’i said the bus driver was nowhere to be found. He suggested he had fled. Another witness, Vailua Lave said a 10-year-old girl survived but had lost her right arm.
“We pulled her out and she had no arm, there was just skin and a hole,” he said. No official comment could be obtained from the police and the hospital.
Director of Clinical Health, Lemalu Dr Limbo Fiu declined to comment. Police officers at the crash site yesterday said they are investigating.
A dead woman was holding a baby under the overturned Lady Analofa bus at Solosolo yesterday, a member of a group visiting from New Zealand told last night.
Tasi Uta said people were squashed under the overturned bus at Solololo. He and others visiting from New Zealand for a week were traveling from Aleipata after viewing the damage there caused by the recent tsunami when they came across the bus accident.
“It happened soon before we’d arrived,” Mr Uta said. “We got out of our cars to see if we could help and saw people squashed under the bus looked like they were all dead. We could see that
others in the bus were still alive.”
The bus was completely destroyed. It broke into pieces when it crashed.
Mr Uta said he saw a woman was caught under the window of the bus was dead. “She was holding a baby which was still alive,” he said.
“I took the baby from her and another man took the baby with him.” Close to half an hour both the Police and the ambulance arrived and took the casualties away.
By that time the bus driver was gone. The bus from coming from Apia when the accident occurred. It was lying on its back facing Apia with its wheels sticking up in the air when we arrived.
Make no mistake about it. Car crashes are becoming an eyesore. You only have to look at your newspaper.
Just about everyday, a photo of a smashed up vehicle is featured.
Fortunately, the majority of crashes inflict minor injuries. Apart from the carnage of vehicles and huge costs incurred to fix them, lives are spared. The poor passengers on a bus heading to Lalomauga yesterday afternoon were not so lucky.
The bus apparently spun out of control and crashed at Solosolo. It flipped and killed six people, according to villagers at the crash site. And that might not be the last we hear about this crash since more passengers are fighting for their lives at the Tupua Tamasese Meaole Hospital (TTMH).
What a terrible tragedy! These people whose lives have been wasted entered the bus full of hope. Like every other passenger on that bus yesterday, it was just another routine trip. Going home, they thought.
It’s most likely many of them were parents looking forward to their children. There were mothers who were keen to get home to fulfill their many responsibilities as a tina Samoa. They were fathers who in most cases are breadwinners for their families. There were children with entire lives to be lived and bright futures ahead.
In an instant, their lives were taken. Today, the people of this country are mourning. There are motherless and fatherless children. There are parents without some of their children. Loved ones have been lost. They are never coming home.
This close to Christmas, merely a month after the tragedy of the tsunami, what more can we take? How far can we continue down this path of death and sorrow? Why? Why now?
These are some of the questions. Valid questions too. There is no magic wand as we seek answers. The truth can only set us free, however.
It’s been a horrible end to 2009. It’s a year we’d rather forget for many reasons that are well known. What it calls for is for all of us to sit down and reassess ourselves.
We are talking about every member of this community, starting from our leaders. What did we do to deserve this? They say trouble comes in threes and fours, we’re seeing way too much. What’s it telling us? Is there a message? Car crashes are part and parcel of life as long as these mobile machines are around.
But we’ve been living with them for many years and if memory serves this writer correct, we cannot recall the last time a crash of this magnitude took so many lives. We take this opportunity to send our condolences to relatives of the people who have been killed. You can be sure this country is mourning with you today.
At the same time, the crash is a timely reminder to be extra careful on the road. With Christmas around the corner, drivers need to be on the look out always. This is a time when things can go horribly wrong. And they do. Stick to the speed limit and ensure your vehicle is safe to be on the road. And a reminder to all the drivers, lives are in your hands.
When a Cabinet minister drove off the road on Saturday, it was his second traffic accident in a week. A few days earlier, last Thursday, a silver Rav 4 driven by the Minister of Education, Sports and Culture, To’omata Alapati Po’ese, struck a taxi at Fugalei around 11pm, it is alleged.
The driver of the taxi, Umuesi Su’a, said his vehicle was stationary at the time in front of Fugalei taxi stand, to pick up a passenger.
The Rav 4 - licence plate number 18344 - did not stop so he and another taxi gave chase, Mr Su’a said. They blocked the vehicle at Vaimoso, he said.
He said he was surprised to see that the driver of the vehicle that had struck his taxi was the minister. “There are many of us who are witnesses,” he said.
Reliable sources say the Police are investigating the Thursday night incident. However, comment from Police at the weekend was not possible.
Comment from To’omata was also not possible during the weekend, a relative saying he had gone to Savai’i. On Saturday, a rental car the minister was driving went off the road in Savai’i.
Among his injuries was a broken leg which was operated on, RNZI said. A reliable source at Tupua Tamasese Meaole Hospital told the Samoa Observer on Sunday To’omata was admitted to Acute 7 with an injured leg. A relative at his home said on Sunday To’omata was in hospital.
He said he didn’t know why. Yesterday, Samoa Observer, discovered from residents the minister’s vehicle went off the road at Fatu, Palauli. The vehicle is owned by Samoana Rental.
The Rav 4 involved in the accident at Fugalei last Thursday was rented from the same company. To’omata rented the Rav 4 from them, managing director Lei’ataua James Arp, confirmed yesterday.
The vehicle suffered scrape damage along its left side, Lei’ataua said. “It can be repaired but we have to wait for parts from overseas and stuff like that,” he said.
To’omata then hired another rental from Samoana to replace the damaged Rav 4, Lei’ataua said. He hired a Toyota Corolla Hatch Back, the vehicle he took to Savai’i and which went off the road at Palauli. “Both are right hand drives,” said Leiataua.
Told of Mr Su’a’s description of the accident last Thursday, he said, “That’s the same report we got.” The managing director of Samoana Rental said he was on the ferry to Savai’i to catch palolo when a Police officer rang. The officer said To’omata had been in an accident involving a Samoana Rental vehicle.
The minister was the driver and the sole occupant of the crashed rental, Leiataua was told. “The Police said he fell asleep (at the wheel),” Leiataua said.
The officer called to tell him the vehicle met with the accident in a bush area. “It wasn’t safe to leave the car there overnight,” Lei’ataua said.
“When we got there he’d left,” he said of the minister. “There’s nothing that can be done about it,” he said of the car. “It’s an absolute write-off.
“And it’s been in the country less than three months.” They got a Caterpillar loader to pull the wreck which was placed at a petrol station at Salelologa. “Now we have to get a tow truck to tow it,” said Lei’ataua.
The tow truck would have to come from Upolu. There isn’t one on Savai’i, Lei’ataua said. He said To’omata has been renting vehicles from them for six months. The Ministry of Education pays for them, he said.
“I’m going to send them the bill today.” A request for comment about both accidents involving the Minister of Education was put through to Acting Commissioner of Police, Superintendent Sala Seaga Uili Lafaele, yesterday.
By deadline it had not been responded to. The Commissioner of Police is overseas.
At least six people are dead after a bus crashed at Solosolo yesterday afternoon. The death toll was confirmed by the Commissioner of Fire and Emergency Services Authority, Seve Tony Hill.
He did not elaborate. But an eyewitness, Jason Tamali’i, of Solosolo, said the scene was unbelievable. The bus, Lady Analofa was heading from town towards Lalomauaga, the eastern side of Upolu.
“I could tell the bus had rolled over because the wheels were still spinning when I got there,” he said.
“I started to pull people from under the bus, because they were screaming. A lot of people died in the accident, but we got most of the people out.”
Mr Tamali’i said the bus driver was nowhere to be found. He suggested he had fled. Another witness, Vailua Lave said a 10-year-old girl survived but had lost her right arm.
“We pulled her out and she had no arm, there was just skin and a hole,” he said. No official comment could be obtained from the police and the hospital.
Director of Clinical Health, Lemalu Dr Limbo Fiu declined to comment. Police officers at the crash site yesterday said they are investigating.
A dead woman was holding a baby:
A dead woman was holding a baby under the overturned Lady Analofa bus at Solosolo yesterday, a member of a group visiting from New Zealand told last night.
Tasi Uta said people were squashed under the overturned bus at Solololo. He and others visiting from New Zealand for a week were traveling from Aleipata after viewing the damage there caused by the recent tsunami when they came across the bus accident.
“It happened soon before we’d arrived,” Mr Uta said. “We got out of our cars to see if we could help and saw people squashed under the bus looked like they were all dead. We could see that others in the bus were still alive.”
Mr Uta said he saw a woman was caught under the window of the bus was dead. “She was holding a baby which was still alive,” he said.
“I took the baby from her and another man took the baby with him.” Close to half an hour both the Police and the ambulance arrived and took the casualties away.
By that time the bus driver was gone. The bus from coming from Apia when the accident occurred. It was lying on its back facing Apia with its wheels sticking up in the air when we arrived.
A double cab 4 wheel drive, left hand drive went into a drain at Tuana’imato yesterday afternoon. Another taxi, a Corolla left hand drive drove on the main road and was hit by Deputy Speaker Leuatea La’auli Polataivao’s vehicle.
The driver of the Deputy Speaker’s car was a man in his 50s. Witness Va’a Tuilagi said the driver of the twin cab “went straight on the main road from the intersection without stopping.” Another witness who did not want to be named told the same story.
He said the twin cab sped into the main road from the intersection. The police are investigating.
Maliliu ina ua lavea le pasi: Tuesday, 10 November 2009 18:32
E to’aono i latou na maliliu i se fa’alavelave matautia na tula’i i le aso ananafi i Solosolo. O lea tulaga sa fa’amaonia mai e le Komesina o le Tineimu, le susuga ia Seve Tony Hill, ae le gata i lea o se tasi o le afioaga o Solosolo, Nua Fesili Miliona.
O se tasi lenei o fa’alavelave matautia ua tula’i mai, ina ua lavea le pasi o le Lady Aga’alofa ma maliliu ma manunua ai le pasese.
Na fa’aalia e le tama ia Nua Fesili Miliona e taunu’u atu o lo’o mafuli le pasi i le ogatotonu o le auala. Ae o le taimi lea ua lolofi atu ai le to’atele o tagata, e taumafai se galuega fesoasoani ina ia fa’asaoina ai le pasese.
Sa ia ta’ua, o nisi o le afioaga sa o atu ma sasa autafa o le pasi, ma taumafai e vane mai i fafo nisi o tagata, ona ua omia i totonu. “ O se tasi o teine aoga o lo’o ola, ae ua mutu lona lima”o Nua lea.
Na molimau foi se tasi o tama, e to’atasi le tagata o le pasese, sa saogalemu e leai ni ona manuaga, peitai sa fa’aauau lava ona aumai i le falemai. “ Ae o le pasese uma sa manunua, ae o isi ua maliliu”. O le pasi lenei sa malaga atu i Apia mo Lalomauga ae tupu ai loa le fa’alavelave i Solosolo.
“ Ua ova le saoasaoa o le pasi o le mafua’aga lea o le lavea” o Nua lea. Na fa’ailoa fo’i i se molimau a se tasi o tama’ita’i, e le manao e fa’ailoa lona suafa, o le ave ta’avale o lenei pasi, sa sola agai i luga o le mauga. Ae o lo’o manua fo’i.
E le’i fia saunoa le Pule o le Vaega o Gasegase Tu’usavali le susuga ia Lemalu Dr Limbo, e tusa ai o lenei fa’alavelave. E le’i manuia foi taumafaiga i le Matagaluega o leoleo.
The police are investigating two car crashes involving the Minister of Education, Sports and Culture, To’omata Alapati Poese. This was confirmed by Assistant Police Commissioner, Sala Seana Uili Lafaele yesterday.
One of the crashes happened last Thursday night while another was on Saturday, which landed the Minister in hospital. “Charges are to be laid against the minister,” Sala told the Samoa Observer. What these charges are, he did not say. “These will be made known when our investigations are completed.”
A second operation was performed on the Minister on Monday, Director of Clinical Health, Lemalu Dr Limbo Fiu said. “He had the operation on his left leg to straighten his fractured bone,” said Lemalu.
To’omata injured his left leg in an accident on Saturday. He received a minor wound to his right leg, but the main issue was with his left, said Lemalu. He was admitted to Acute 7 at the Tupua Tamasese Meaole Hospital where he is expected to remain until the end of the week.
“It’s just a matter of dressing wounds, so no infection can occur. He’s basically alright and well,” Lemalu said. Meanwhile, Assistant Commissioner Sala confirmed they are also investigating a crash involving the Minister of Justice, Unasa Mesi Galo, in Savai'i.
Some drivers are still finding it difficult to remember they have to drive on the left side of the road, a Government Minister said yesterday. That’s what caused an accident he was involved in on Saturday, Minister of Justice, Unasa Meli Galo told the Samoa Observer.
He was driving around a bend at Saipipi when he was startled to see another vehicle coming towards him on his lane, the Minister said. He veered off onto roadside grass to leave the entire left lane to the approaching vehicle.
“Only the back tyre of my vehicle was on the road,” he said. But the other driver also had the same idea.
He too veered off the road to avoid the oncoming minister. They collided. Unasa said he was not hurt because he was stationary at the time of the collision.
“The only thing was I put my shoulder to the steering wheel because I was expecting the bump,” he said. Motorists are still forgetting to drive on the left side of the road, Unasa said.
When the road switch took effect on September 7 vehicles shifted from travelling on the right side of the centre line to the left. But Unasa said the accident on Saturday shouldn’t have happened.
The slower speed limit allows drivers to adjust and move to the correct lane, he said. He said the other driver, who is from Pu’apu’a, panicked.
He has given a statement to the Police, the Minister of Justice said. The accident occurred shortly after 6pm as he drove to check suspected sand mining on a beach.
Passengers should stop speeding bus drivers. If speed turns out to be the cause of the tragic accident at Solosolo on Monday, it is a reminder passengers on buses have a responsibility for their own safety, Commissioner of Fire and Emergency Services, Seve Tony Hill, said yesterday.
If they see their bus is speeding they should pull the stop-cord and order the driver to slow down, Seve said. A bus driver who drives faster than the 25 miles per hour speed limit, with the lives of passengers in his hands, is stupid, he said. Passengers should act and tell him to slow down.
“I mean there’re more of them than a stupid driver,” said the Commissioner. He was asked about the possibility that passengers may in cases condone a driver going over the speed limit, in order to get home faster. “You know the old saying, it’s better to get there safe than dead on time,” he said. “You know we have seen too many dead people this year. “Far too many.”
Two fatal bus crashes occurred before the one on Monday. And it happened less than months after the tsunami on 29 September.
The bus crash which killed eight passengers has been blamed on speeding. “But we believe it was not only the speed of the bus which caused this accident,” spokesman of Tautua Samoa Party, Palusalue Fa’apo II, said yesterday. The road switch was to blame too, Palusalue said.
By switching the side of the road a vehicle travels on, the driver of left hand drives, like the one of the bus on Monday, sits on the “wrong” side, he said. The driver now sits on the road side part of the road instead of the middle of the road. This reduces visibility if indeed the bus was speeding, he said. As bus owners said before the road switch, changing the side of the entrance of buses weakens the structure of their vehicles, the Tautua spokesman said.
That is why the bus on Monday, disintegrated, he said. Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sa’ilele Malielegaoi dismissed Palusalue’s comments in the very brief time he considered them.
Today’s topic: When nerves of steel are needed to stay sane driving on Samoan roads
Last week eight people died when a bus flipped over at Solosolo. As the driver fled people were pinned inside the overturned bus, one of whom was a mother clutching her baby in her arms.
According to Tasi Uta, a visitor from New Zealand who rendered help, she was already dead. However her arms were still holding on tightly to her baby.
Uta said he prised the baby from its mother’s arms and someone took it. He did not know who that person was. Elsewhere however, the wounded waited for emergency help to arrive.
How this accident happened though is not clear. What is clear is that many bus drivers in this country think they own the roads. They cut corners at will, bypass three or four vehicles at a time, don’t even care about what anyone else thinks.
What’s more, they fill their buses well beyond the allowed limit, allow passengers to stand on the doorway, others’ arms to stick out of the windows. So that when the bus is involved in an accident of any magnitude, people are surely going to die and become wounded.
Such is the perennial horror of fatal traffic accidents on Samoan roads. They have been this way for years and yet nothing has been done to stop what has been causing them.
They are gruesome and yet they are quite avoidable. If only traffic officials were doing their jobs properly and bus drivers were obeying the rules.
Looking at how many young drivers are driving today, it’s impossible not to question how their driving licences had been approved.
They drive all over the road, stop anywhere they please, cut speed to a crawling pace slowing queues of traffic, or bypass vehicles on the wrong side of the road even on the sidewalk posing threats to pedestrians.
And then we’ve been shoved this ill-conceived, aggravating road switch which seems to be the perfect licence to kill on the roads.
Although it specifies everyone is responsible for one’s own safety, the mere shunning of responsibility by those who dreamed up this “ass of a law” means it was expected there would be risks to human life when the road switch would become effective.
Well, it has now been effective for more than two months, and over that period there have been risks to human life; indeed, there have been fatal traffic accidents as well. Was the road switch responsible? To an extent we believe it was.
Today, if you are driving a left-hand-drive car behind a big vehicle such as a bus or a truck, your vision ahead is blocked.
To pass that bus or truck you have to move to the right past the road’s centre line in order to see what’s up ahead.
Which means you risk collision with a vehicle coming towards you on the right hand side of the road; this is to say you have to be always prepared to dart back quickly to the left side of the road to avoid collision. In other words, you have to have nerves of steel today to stay sane driving on Samoan roads.
And if you’re driving at night, the light from approaching vehicles shines straight into your eyes so that you are momentarily blinded. Once again, you need to have a bagful of nerves to stay calm.
What we’re conscious of that is that with the growing number of right-hand-drive vehicles coming into the country now, there will soon be bedazzling chaos on the roads at night. Let’s hope we’re wrong.
One thing we’re sure of though is that Samoa’s consistently growing traffic could soon enough overwhelm Apia’s dilapidated, swampy roads.
Perhaps it’s time then to look at implementing that proposal to build a highway between Fugalei and Vaiusu. Such a project would be a big improvement. It would surely reduce traffic congestion around Apia.
Incidentally, what is to become of the $14 million Aleipata Wharf and Slipway? All we know is that the project was officially opened just before the earthquake and the tsunami. Then the big wave arrived and trashed it.
And now this mighty project that was to become the lifeblood of both the government and Aleipata’s is abandoned. So that as the slipway is tilting there sideways like the forlorn “Tower of Babel,” all those who shared the dream are probably now hoping it would just fall into the sea and disappear.
But that’s $14 million boys and girls! It’s such a huge chunk of cash it simply cannot be just dumped into the ocean.
Think of the thousands of children who could have been assured an education using that money. Or thousands of jobs that could have been created by it if it was invested wisely, like in agriculture in the villages for instance.
Think of the poor. But don’t bother taking any notice. Please don’t bother. Have a peaceful Sunday Samoa, God bless.
An elderly woman well known for driving her Dyna truck has died in a road crash. Tauiliili Telesia Craig of Tuaefu, 80, died when her truck crashed at Safa’ato’a, Lefaga on Friday afternoon.
A senior police officer confirms there were three people in the truck at the time of the accident. A lady who was with Mrs Craig told the police the truck went out of control and rolled over. The senior police officer said one possible reason for the accident was the brakes.
The truck crashed at the same spot where a fire truck went off the road and took the life of a fireman, Peter Letiu. The Dyna’s passengers survived but Mrs Craig, who was driving died.
Her younger sister, Ioana Masoe- Williams told the Samoa Observer her sister is a fighter. “She fights for what is good for her whole family,” she said.
“I can’t describe the type of person she is.” Mrs Williams said her sister was on a mercy mission to Falease’ela when the accident occurred. “She died while doing what she loved to do,” she said.
“She is an old lady with a very young spirit." She explained they’d told Tauiliili do not drive that far but it’s what she loved to do. “My sister loved to drive her Dyna,” she said smiling.
She admitted even though it’s shocking but she’s rejoicing because she knows her sister died doing what she wanted. “She loves to help other people just like her family,” she said. Tauiliili’s family service will be held on Friday followed by her burial service on Saturday morning after a special Mass at St. Theresa’s Parish, Lepea. Police are still investigating the accident.
A girl from the village of Falefa is fighting for her life at the Tupua Tamasese Meaole Hospital. A senior police officer confirmed this to Samoa Observer yesterday.
The police were still investigating the matter last night while the young girl remained unconscious. The senior police officer said the condition of the girl is critical. The girl was hit at Lalomauga at about 10am.
A Year 9 Samoa College student was struck by a taxi on Friday morning in front of his school. The boy was trying to cross the road with other students when the taxi overtook a red pick up and apparently hit the boy leaving him unconscious.
The boy was taken to the hospital that morning. The boy’s parents who refused to be named, said their son was very fortunate to escape with minor injuries and a couple of stitches to his back.
“I thank God that my son is alive and he is in good progress so far after the incident’’ said the parent. The driver was taken to the police station and the matter is now under investigation.
If water is life then most of us are in trouble if you count how many times the water has been switched off at your place lately. Not once, not twice but too many times.
What’s more, it’s not off for a few minutes; it goes off for hours, sometimes entire nights and half the next day. In some places, it gets considerably worse.
You start to question if we are living in a country that’s on the verge of graduating from the least developed country (LDC) status? A developed country? How can that be when sometimes we don’t even have water for our bathrooms?
Isn’t water one of the most basic things you should expect in a country, especially one heralded as the model economy of the Pacific? The issue naturally arouses worry, demands our full attention.
We say this because as far as we remember, this has been an ongoing problem for far too long. That’s correct folks; year after year we hear and read about families not getting water. It’s sort of become an acceptable part of life.
But why is this so? Does it mean that in Samoa we just cannot do anything to alleviate this problem? Does it mean that in Samoa one cannot guarantee undisrupted supply of water all year round? It’s sad, isn’t it?
It gets considerably depressing when you think about all these water experts getting paid huge amounts just to work out our water systems. Yet not a year goes by where our people don’t suffer from disruption in their water supply. What are we paying for? And what does it say about the people we pay money to ensure our water supply is not interrupted?
We acknowledge there are difficulties in attempts to ensure the water supply is uninterrupted. We also accept the fact that sometimes, things do go wrong and they do.
There are efforts being made to improve the system and we are pleased about that. Such include the multi-million-tala European Union project where treated water will be received by many more Samoans.
Still, for a country that’s supposedly developing at such a fast rate, we struggle to understand how water, a basic necessity, is hard to come by in some places.
For the past few weeks, your newspaper has received several complaints from residents at Vailima, Vaoala, Tiapapata, Vailele, Fagali’i-uta, Vaitele and other villages about disruptions in their water supply.
Some families said they’ve had to go without water for several days. Imagine? How do these people wash themselves? How do they flush their toilets? What about cooking, washing and all other things you need water for?
No wonder the population is crying, no wonder some have written some fairly critical letters to the newspaper about the Samoa Water Authority. The point is a country like Samoa shouldn’t be experiencing these problems any more.
If we’ve just spent countless millions on an unnecessary road switch, shouldn’t the government have prioritised water since we depend on it for survival? Imagine if all those millions spent on the road switch were used to get a couple of big pipes to get the water to our homes? Wouldn’t that have been a much better way to spend money?
As it stands today, every time the water goes off, we’re told it’s because it’s being rationed. In other words, there is just not enough water to go around. But that’s hard to believe given we’ve had so much rain this year, even during the dry season.
We’ve been down this road too many times. Haven’t we learnt something over the years? Surely, getting an undisrupted supply of water should not be so costly as to bankrupt the Samoa Water Authority and the government. The question is, how seriously is anyone taking this issue? Do they care at all?
Written by Jaydin O’Grady and Senara Brown Tuesday, 24 November 2009
A van which belongs to Papauta Girl’s College was involved in a crash in front of Salon Sheree, Moto’otua, yesterday. An eyewitness said she saw a white RHD van flip in a ditch after the driver tried to overtake two cars.
The driver successfully over took the first car but failed to see another car, dark blue Tucson which had indicated to turn right, she said.
As a result the LHD Tucson was hit.
“The van was coming up from town and overtook the Tucson that was turning into Salenesa Road,” she said.
“He swerved to avoid it, but hit it (Tucson) and he came straight to our deep ditch.
“He bounced out of the ditch, hit our sign post and flipped on his side.” The eyewitness confirmed no one involved in the crash seemed badly hurt.
The driver of the Tucson said she had indicated to turn right and the van was coming from town. “The driver was going really fast when he tried to over take me,” she said. The police on the scene told the Samoa Observer they are investigating.
this is getting stupid....come on Samoa haha we need to do something about our Hospital and pay rise for our doctors and nurses and all the workers in the Hospital. Who doesn't need a doctor? we all need to go to the Hospital at some point?
Especially with this stupid road switch! The health dept over spent on there budget already that they cant send there approved patients to akl for medical treatment. What happened to the tsunami relief aid? and the 14million plus dollars each nz and aust donate to samoa every year?
It’s time for the government to come clean. Tell us what it wants; perhaps let us in on its plans. We know that whether we agree or not, it doesn’t really matter.
It will go ahead and do what it pleases as we’ve seen in the not too distant past.
It wouldn’t hurt their plans therefore to let the people of this country know what they’re thinking. What’s more, since we are not a country of fools, these government officials might want to remember that we know one plus one equals two.
We are talking about wooden buses and how government is disguising its plans to get rid of them eventually. How long these buses will continue to be around we don’t know. What we do know is that they will eventually be phased out. After the big commotion about changing the doors so they can be used after the road switch, there has been a lot of talk lately about the safety of wooden buses.
We agree that it’s an important issue following the crash at Solosolo which claimed the lives of eight people. We also agree that such a crash must not be dismissed as a one off. Something good must come out of it. On Monday, the issue of safety was raised during a meeting between the Land Transport Authority and some bus owners over public transport safety. The meeting was timely, no doubt full of good intentions.
What we can’t understand is the secretive manner under which it was held. How else do you explain why some bus owners were not allowed to take part? The highest ranking representative of bus operators in Upolu was told to leave. Vice-chairman of the Association of Bus Operators of Upolu (ABOU), Nanai Taiwan Yu Hoi was not allowed inside.
Another key member of the association, Treasurer, Le Anapapa Laki was also not allowed. He said he was told only owners of many buses may enter. Le Anapapa operates four buses in Upolu and another 12 in Savai’i. If that’s not many, what is? The point is what is so secretive about public transport safety? Why were these men banned from the meeting?
We all know Le Anapapa is not exactly a friend of the government. But Nanai has no political affiliations, or so he says. Why was he banned? And speaking of political affiliations; isn’t it ironic that at a time when the issue of wooden buses is being discussed with the possibility of getting rid of them, the son of a government minister is selling 44 of his fleet of 56? Does he know something we don’t?
This is why we say the government has got to be up front with members of public about what is happening. Talks about getting rid of the wooden buses are not new. Once upon a time, it was old news until the road switch came along. Because government was so hell-bent to make the switch happen, wooden buses were suddenly the ‘in thing’ since they were cheaper to change.
Now that the road switch has been implemented, government appears to have changed its mind again about wooden buses. And as it’s trying to make up its mind, poor bus owners are being tossed back and forth. They are caught in a cloud of uncertainty about the future. The word for bus owners and potential bus owners today is CAUTION with a capital C. Think carefully. As for the government, what do you take the people of this country for?
I am against the road switch but there are some accidents being reported here that I dont think have anything to do with right hand driving but more due to negligence by the drivers. Its time for a trolley or Mass transit system that will alleviate road traffic and better serve the populace. It may be an expensive option but for Samoa we can forget about road switches cos whether you drive on the left or right the train will always be on the tracks. it will be a onetime cost and then we can forget about buying cars. just ride the trolley. That my 2 cents worth.
And by the way what happened to the forum? Looks dead. Noone is coming here or over there.
