P.M. hints at Village mayor review

By Lanuola Tupufia – Ah Tong 26 October 2016, 12:00AM

Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sa’ilele Malielegaoi has called for a review on the selection of village mayor (pulenuu) to ensure the right person is appointed for the job. 

Tuilaepa said there are some pulenu’u selected by villages based upon all the wrong reasons. 

The Prime Minister made the comments when he talked about villages whose water supply are not metered.

 “That is the role of the village mayor,” said Tuilaepa. “He has to make sure there are developments in the village and that the trees next to rivers are not cut down.”

“Some pulenuu are lazy and the government is wasting money paying them when they are not doing any work.”

Tuilaepa said that in some cases, the village simply appoint the son a high chief knowing he is not suitable for the role.

“The Alii ma Faipule should ensure the right person is appointed to push the development for the village.”

According to Tuilaepa, if the wrong person is appointed, the village will go hungry. 

“There are some good pulenuu,” he pointed out. 

“But there are others that are just continuing on with their old habits of being lazy.”

In some cases, the village might even appoint an elderly man who can’t even go to the plantation. I believe there will come a time to review the work of pulenuu otherwise we’ll just cut the appointments from here and look for someone else.”

Furthermore, Tuilaepa said the water tanks in some of the villages are for the storage and distribution of water. He said it was important to stress some villages still rely on untreated water because they refuse to pay their water bills.

 “It’s important to have water meters to prevent wasting water,” he explained. 

“If we manage our water, we won’t have to spend a lot of money (on water bill) especially when some children just let the water run.”

By Lanuola Tupufia – Ah Tong 26 October 2016, 12:00AM
Samoa Observer

Upgrade to Premium

Subscribe to
Samoa Observer Online

Enjoy unlimited access to all our articles on any device + free trial to e-Edition. You can cancel anytime.

>