A Chinese father-of-two who came to Samoa for an agriculture project passed away last week.

The deceased man is Guoping Liu.

Mr. Liu arrived in Samoa in 2014 with a team of Chinese Agricultural experts.

The 60-year-old was a senior vegetable expert at the Samoa-China Agricultural Technical Aid Project (S.C.A.T.A.P.).

The father-of-two died at the Motootua Hospital on April 27.

He graduated from Hunan Agricultural University in 1982.

He served as Section Head of the State owned far, Director of Extension Center and Chief Agronomist of the Yunxi District Agricultural Bureau, Yueyang City.

He also worked for the South-South Cooperation projects in Gabon and Liberia facilitated by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (F.A.O.) of the United Nations, and was awarded with “Special Recognition of South-South Cooperation” by F.A.O. and the Ministry of Agriculture of China.

The team leader for S.C.A.T.A.P., Jim Liu told the Samoa Observer that his colleague will be dearly missed.

“The cause of death which we were told was due to septic shock with multi organ failures [including] his kidneys,” he said.

He added that the Samoan and Chinese doctors tried all they could to save his friend.

“He was admitted for nine days at the hospital. We were not aware of the disease and if there was a way we could have prevented it,” he said. 

“He made a great contribution to Samoa's agriculture in which he lost his life during the process. We are very sad; we never thought that this kind of thing could happen.

“He was known as papa Liu to the Savaii community and was popular for helping Samoan farmers grow watermelons and vegetables in open fields and using tunnel house technology and he was loved by many”

Mr. Liu added that the deceased’s family was informed and has expressed their sadness.

“He was a father-of-two with two grandchildren in China. He will be cremated and returned to his family in China but with COVID-19 and border closures it has made it difficult for us to have him moved to China,” he said. 

“Our dear friend was supposed to retire and spend the remainder of his days with his family and he has an 83-year-old mother waiting for him. 

“Before Samoa used to import watermelons from overseas but nowadays we are self-producing and Liu was able to assist with that.”

The deceased was known for his kindness and determination to help Samoan farmers.  

The S.C.A.T.A.P. team consisted of nine Chinese nationals which now has eight.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           “It is a sad and bitter ending to our efforts in helping the Samoan people through the agricultural project.

One of the farmers to benefit from the deceased’s work is Tupaimanaia Chi Yuan Liu, a Chinese man who is married to a Samoan:

“When I first started my vegetable garden I had no idea what to do but Liu helped me develop my farm and I learned so much from him.

“My vegetables are being sold in Upolu all the way from Savaii. I have been here 14 years now.”

S.C.A.T.A.P. is a bilateral cooperation project between the Chinese and Samoan Government from 2017-2020.