Prime Minister Fiame Naomi Mata’afa and the Government launched a five-year plan aptly called the “Pathway for the Development of Samoa” last Friday. Since taking control of Samoa’s political wheel last year, the strategy is perhaps the Government’s most ambitious plan of action to date, aside from the F.A.S.T. election manifesto, making their intentions clear on how they plan to develop this country under their watch.

With the Constitutional Crisis taking up the bulk of 2021, and with 2022 already into the third month this week, time is not a luxury Prime Minister Fiame and her administration have. Although the plan is for five years, realistically they have at least three years to make a dent on it. Those who follow the political discourse know that the fifth and final year of any Parliamentary term is essentially a write off because of the election campaign trail. That is true for Samoa, as is anywhere else in the world. 

Still the people of this country should rest a little easier in the knowledge that at least we have a plan. The old adage of failing to plan is planning to fail holds true today as it was when it was coined. So we welcome the Pathway for the Development of Samoa 2021-2025 launched at the TATTE building. Guided by the theme “Empower communities, build resilience, and inspire growth,” Fiame said the document provides the top priorities in terms of development for this Parliamentary term.

 “Our ambition is to inspire and instill growth among all our people but people cannot achieve this alone. Change for the better requires wide community engagement,” she said, adding that meaningful collaboration and local ownership are crucial to social harmony and “shared prosperity.” “It requires strong partnerships amongst all our sector stakeholders, and our development partners. Together, we can forge a pathway towards sustainable growth and resilience.”  

Wonderful, absolutely wonderful! Continued Fiame: “Social development sits at the forefront of our national efforts and our Government will forge ahead with measures to build capacities, minimise vulnerabilities, and provide equal access to opportunities.

“These building blocks for the pursuit of long, healthy and fulfilling lives depend on there being a sustainable and diversified economy that promotes shared prosperity for and within our communities.

 “While outcomes matter, how we choose to pursue those outcomes is equally as important. We will therefore protect people’s rights, ensure the integrity of governance systems, and secure partnerships that can benefit Samoa.”

Again, it sounds beautiful, such great choice of words. We cannot wait to see it happen. If we sound a little skeptical it’s because we’ve seen and heard many similar promises before. We’re quite sure the Strategy of Development under the former administration where terms like “social harmony” and “shared prosperity” were thrown around quite often would not have stood out as odd next to this new “Pathway for the Development of Samoa.”

How have we as a nation fared since? You be the judge. But take the idea of “shared prosperity” for instance. Isn’t it obvious that only a small percentage of this country hold the majority of the wealth? And with foreigners, predominantly Asians, moving towards dominating businesses, especially in the retail sector; who exactly is prospering here? Have you counted how many Samoans have now resorted to selling $5 tala roadside BBQs while foreigners are running the shops? Who is prospering again? 

Maybe we can take umbrage in the Government’s renewed focus on “empowering communities.” The word empower gives the impression that whatever is being empowered was depowered at some point, hence the need to revive and revitalise. We have a relatively new Government at the helm and to be fair to them, they need to be given the opportunity to prove themselves. They cannot be judged for the shortcomings of another administration.

From an outside perspective looking in, their focus on empowering communities is a positive start. They need to ensure that the Government’s development plans place Samoan people first and foremost in everything. They need to ensure that these plans are not just empty words and hollow political rhetoric masked by carefully worded speeches that only serenade people to sleep.

They need to get down to the grassroots level and talk to real people who have real problems. Ask them what they need. Ask them how they want to be helped. Ask them about the future they want. We’ve had enough of all these strategic plans that are merely designed to tick the box and satisfy the requirements of funders and donors, while more and more Samoans end up being poor and wallowing in poverty. Take another look at those vulnerable villages and communities after weeks of rain and flooding. Look at the Village Voice stories in the Samoa Observer. What do they tell you? 

In Samoa today, the gap between the haves and the have-nots, the rich and the poor has widened considerably.  That’s because the people in a position to share this so-called prosperity have been doing everything but sharing. They have been hogging it all for themselves, their friends and buddies. Most of us know how the cookie crumbles. We see this in the way contracts are awarded, and many other aspects of life in Samoa. 

As we begin this week, let us congratulate the Government for the launch of the “Pathway for the Development of Samoa.” We hope it signals a new start for this nation where the Government will actually walk the talk, and not just another strategy to tick the box and add to more expensive reports gathering dust in our national archives. 

Have a great week Samoa, God bless!