Faleata district has its say

By Natasha Schmidt 02 November 2016, 12:00AM

Villagers from the districts of Faleta Sasae and Faleata Sisifo were given the opportunity to express their views in relation to te Community Integrated Management (C.I.M) Plan at the T.A.T.T.E Building on Monday.

The consultation was part of the National Environment Week, with the celebration spearheaded by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (M.N.R.E). 

The C.I.M seeks to support community efforts to become more resilient to climate variability and climate change. 

Fetoloai Yandall-Alama, an A.C.E.O. of the Planning Urban Management Agency said the consultation is an important part of the Ministry’s plans.

 “The key objectives of today is to try and get feedback from the public, and to see what they think the main issues are within their villages and within their districts,” said Fetoloai. “This way the government can find a way to put it in a plan, prioritize it and hopefully find the funds for it.” According to statement from M.N.R.E, village communities are at the forefront of experiencing climate hardship. Such include prolong periods of drought impacting on our agricultural productivity, dry river beds limiting our access to water for consumption, or extreme events from heavy rain causing flooding, storm surges, landslips and natural disaster such as cyclones, tsunami and earthquakes.

Whereas the C.I.M Plan Review covers all 45 districts of Samoa, the Pilot Program for Climate Resilience (P.P.C.R) supports 16 districts, which includes Faleata Sasae and Sisifo within the  urban area. 

“The C.I.M Plan consultation provides an opportunity for   our communities to bring forward their concerns  regarding issues that  are  affecting their communities   due to impacts of climate change and variability,” the statement said.

“It is   also noted in these consultations the improved resilience of communities to adapt especially solutions that they identify   such   as long term planning to relocate from coastal hazard zones,  protecting water catchment areas and mangrove ecosystems, encouraging the climate proofing of roads for pedestrian safety and easy evacuation during time of natural disasters, investing in water tanks to store water for use when drought period  strikes.” 

“These actions are all indicators  of community adaptive approach to  enhance resilience to the adverse impacts of climate change.”

Fetoloai said the plan is extremely important for Samoa.

 “Having plans is something that is needed for the government to plan towards. Whether it is for a long term, assistance is needed from the government to short term, immediate or long term. We need to plan a structure that can help the government reprioritize their resources and seek for funding because that is always an issue for us.”

The C.I.M Plan Review will be followed  by the implementation of small sub-projects through C.S.S.P and large  district sub-projects by government selected implementing agencies.

By Natasha Schmidt 02 November 2016, 12:00AM
Samoa Observer

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