The Sagaga No. 3 District Council Committee needs to be commended for putting aside their differences and coming together for the better good of all people living the villages that form the district.

Their ability to dialogue and resolve the issue around representation shows that perhaps once the community does get its funding, it would be utilised in the best possible manner, after all the $1 million tala is supposed to be for the betterment of the people from the district.

The Samoa Observer on Wednesday 20 September, 2023 reported that a stalemate within the Sagaga No. 3 District Council Committee, which delayed access to the SAT$1 million district development grant, has been resolved and culminated with the approval of the first funding portion.

The signing for the first portion of the grant was held on Tuesday with representatives of the constituency who gathered at the Tooa Salamasina Hall on Tuesday to witness the disbursement of their first $150,000 development fund.

The Sagaga No. 3 constituency covers the villages of Leauvaa, Aleisa Sasae and Aleisa Sisifo and its Member of Parliament is Sala Fata Pinati.

The district development funds are a good way to fulfill the needs of the villages and its people. There have been stories about water problems and road conditions in the villages that form the Sagaga No.3 district. Infrastructure development is a good way to start using the fund.

It has been seen with other districts how large amounts of the funds are used to buy farming implements and then distributed among the people or some districts are just giving cash handouts. These are definitely not very proactive methods of the use of the funds.

There are 51 districts which means that each year $51 million is allocated for the people around Samoa and in the five years this government remains in power, a total of $265 million will be disbursed to the district committees.

There is a need for district committees to move away from the old thoughts of how the money can be best utilised and they should start more thinking on the lines of how a government would use the funds to bring about development which is positive and benefits the people it is intended for. Otherwise, it is just a waste of the money.

Education, health and infrastructure should be given priority as these would massively improve the quality of life in these villages. The money can used to pay the school fees for children whose parents cannot afford to do so, initiate the construction of a medical clinic through a private public initiative, improve water supply and road conditions.

The district committee can do a survey and find out about households which are living in poverty and a certain portion can be used to help support them. None of the districts have invested into income generating projects. This could be a chance to do that, invest into something that would ensure income generation and the profits goes to the people of the district leading to an improved quality of life.

Now that the Sagaga No.3 district has been given the first instalment of their funds, the district committee has to realise that the funds should never end up in anyone’s pockets. A transparent and accountable system for the handling of the cash and its usage should be in place.

The people of the district need to be able to have access to these records through prudent and detailed financial statements which should be made public every month. If the Sagaga district committee can do these things, they would be an example for other district committees.

The impasse has now been resolved but there should never be any further such situations which would affect the work of the district committee. The committee needs to realise that they are not working for the member of parliament but for the people. Let there be a much better use of the district grants and that is actually used for its intended purpose.

If the districts lose focus and the funds are not utilised properly, $265 million of taxpayers money, the peoples’ money would have been better used elsewhere.