Kangen water pedlar remains free

Police have not arrested the seller of a debunked Kangen water treatment for measles, Fritz Filisi Alai’asa, as of Sunday afternoon.

Police Commissioner, Fuiavailiili Egon Keil, confirmed that Mr. Alai’asa had not been taken into custody in an interview with Samoa Observer.

Fuiavailiili said that on Saturday, they stopped all operations at Mr. Alai’asa’s home.

This is the second time the Police and the Ministry of Health have had to ask Mr. Alai’asa to stop his operation. 

Mr. Alai’asa has also been warned that if he continues to run his operation, the Police will put him in prison, the Commissioner said.

Fuiavailiili added that the Police are prioritising the safety of the Samoan people.

“He [Mr. Alai'asa] does not have a medical certificate to treat our people and he shouldn’t be,” he said.

“We don’t need con artists and witchcrafts at this time giving false hope of alternative medicines.

The Commissioner also warned those that continue to defy orders and instructions from the authority that they will be charged and arrested for doing so.

Prime Minister Tuilaepa Dr. Sailele Malielegaoi personally ordered the arrest of Mr. Alai'asa after discovering that the clinic reopened and that Mr. Alai’asa had made the claim he had approved it. 

Tuilaepa denied that he had authorised the re-opening of Mr. Alai’asa’s clinic in a statement by the Government Press Secretariat after it was shut down by health authorities earlier last week for breaching the Public Health Act.