In the space of two weeks two experts have already come out to express reservations about the current Government’s plans to redevelop the Asau wharf in Savai’i, and turn it into a multipurpose transshipment port.

The sentiments by the retired engineer Michael Anderson and current Principal Planning Consultant Maualaivao Ueligitone Sasagi have a common thread. They both conclude that any plans to reinvest in the Asau port, which would include attempts to widen and deepen the channel to access the wharf, would cost the current and future Governments a lot of money.

They were responding to a proposal announced by the Minister of Works Transport and Infrastructure, Olo Fiti Va’ai for the redevelopment of a multipurpose transshipment port at Asau. According to the Minister, the proposal is currently with Samoa’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade to work on to secure funding.

Olo said the Government's plans for Asau is to build a multipurpose port for transshipment as well as becoming a backup for the Matautu international port on Upolu. He added there have been a lot of talks and proposals in the past on the development of the wharf in Asau, but the proposals "did not go anywhere". 

If the proposal is now with the M.F.A.T. then it appears it has gone past the consultation phase following deliberations by the Cabinet with the Ministry now tasked to secure funding for the project.

So what exactly did Mr. Anderson and Maualaivao say about the Asau wharf and the Government’s proposal to make it a transshipment port?

Michael Anderson, who has been a resident in Samoa since 1969 and a project manager and consultant for various public infrastructure projects, believes the cost to undertake such a project would be enormous.

"For the Asau port, one needs to keep in mind just what would it serve? Really there is not much there now, the [timber] mill has gone and logging cannot be resurrected," Mr. Anderson said in an interview.

"There is quite a low population with most living towards Salelologa and to develop an infrastructure to support some sort of industry would be far more than the cost of the harbour development.”

He expressed fears that the project could end up like the former Administration’s Tiavea airport project.

While Maualaivao, who used to manage the reforestation programme at Asau from 1975 to 1991, said the wharf is fine but the challenge is the channel which vessels will need to access to get to the port.

"The wharf is fine, the channel to enter Asau harbour is the issue. There have been many other feasibility studies carried out at the time of the Samoa Forest Product which I know is archived by the government. But, yes, it is challenging and may be expensive," he said.

According to the former Asau reforestation programme manager, marine engineers were brought in from Korea to study the channel at Asau, and made recommendations that vessels could enter at ‘peak high tide’ and only load a set weight of logs, as blowing up and widening the channel was an expensive exercise.

So why push ahead with the proposal that the M.F.A.T. is now tasked to sell abroad when the cost could be astronomical? 

Could this proposal result in funding being diverted into a project that might end up becoming another white elephant project?

What are the opportunity costs for other projects that could miss out on potential funding due to the priority that the Cabinet appears to have given to this proposal?

There is a lot to be concerned about the proposal, especially during these challenging times with the local economy in recession. 

The World Bank recently projected that the Samoan economy will contract further by 5 per cent in this financial year, though it envisages it bouncing back next year as the tourism industry gets back on its feet and capital works projects start.

Could this be one of the capital works projects that the Samoa Government has lined up for the next financial year in a bid to further stimulate the economy?

We are yet to see what form of financing for this proposal the M.F.A.T. will opt for and hope further loans will not be considered, especially with the Government’s total outstanding debts for FY2021/22 currently standing at WST$948.4 million.

Nonetheless, we remain wary about projects with high capital costs that end up becoming an added cost to the public purse and of little use with no returns for the people.