The construction of a Multipurpose Hall at the Vai'a'ata Prison facility in Savai'i is among the list of capital projects in the pipeline for Samoa for the current financial year.

The Vai'a'ata prison facility in Savai'i made headlines since revelations that it would be built by inmates and is also on the list of projects to be investigated under the government's Forensic Audit incentive. 

According to the Fiscal Strategy for the Financial Year 2023/2024 Budget on the Ministry of Finance's website, the construction of a multi-purpose Hall at the $800,000 tala prison facility is one of the projects in the pipeline for Savai'i. 

Other projects for the big island include, upgrading of the Asau and Maota Airports, Savai'i Court House, and Emergency Operations Center in Savai'i and the Sapapali'i Ford. 

For Upolu, major projects in the pipeline include the Alaoa Multipurpose Dam, Tulaele crossing and Lepa ford, ICT Sector Project and the Finance Sector Resilience Programme. 

It was announced in April of this year that Samoa has about SAT$3 billion worth of projects in the pipeline, representing the monetary value of close to 300 major capital works project which will take a decade or two to start depending on financing and investment. 

The announcement was made by Glenn Fawcett who is the Project Lead for the Infrastructure Consultant for the Samoa Public Sector Investment Program (PSIP).

According to Mr. Fawcett, they have managed to browse over 300 projects of which 200 are still in the pipeline, planned, and not yet funded.

There are a lot of projects that need to be prioritized which is part of the objective of the workshop and project. There are over 20 agencies with capital investment funds to spend on projects and the project allows for a central view of all expenditures which is very important for Samoa moving forward.

“This is the early stage screening, this is the work we do upstream of getting funding which is the appraisal phase of the project making sure that it still has economic return, is still feasible, and that everything is in place for that project to be constructed,” he said

“This is early stage screening, identification, then you go through appraisal, you budget the project and then you deliver the project.”

This is the second publication of the PSIP which is a document that will eventually be published every year so that all ongoing projects or projects yet to be done are in a document every year.

“We know at the moment there’s $1.4 billion in planned projects; the total of investments planned and hoped to achieve is $3 billion. That is the total pipeline cost for 10-plus years,” Mr. Fawcett added.

In terms of planned projects, roads are where the biggest chunk is likely to go, followed by energy and public administration. Agriculture, aviation, maritime, and water are next on the list.

In late 2021, the Minister of Police and Prisons, Faualo Harry Schuster confirmed that an audit into the cost of the Vaia'ata prison which was also built without going through the standard tender process in Savai'i remained an "open question". 

However, Faualo said back then that an investigation into the prison’s cost was not high on the Government’s agenda as it had more pressing issues to deal with.

That account was apparently contradicted by another member of Cabinet who declined to be named, who said that investigations showed the project appeared to have been built at a massively inflated cost, which warranted further inquiries. 

The Minister told the Samoa Observer in 2021 that they had visited the prison facility following concerns about the project’s specifications and the fact that it was built by inmates.

At the time of the prison’s construction, Faualo’s predecessor, Ti’alavea Tionisio Hunt, said that he thought running the project through the typical tender process required for a project of that size was not needed since a company had not been awarded a contract and that it would be built by skilled “low risk” prisoners. 

The Vaia'ata prison was opened in March of 2021 before the General Election, in a low-key event attended by the then caretaker Prime Minister Tuilaepa Dr. Sailele Malielegaoi, former Minister of Police, Tialavea and the former Police Commissioner Fuiavailili Egon Keil. 

The opening was closed to members of the public and the media were not invited to cover the occasion. 

Initially, the total cost of the project as announced by Tuilaepa during the groundbreaking ceremony in March of 2019 was $600,000.

However, it was revealed in September of 2020 that the cost of the project had ballooned to $800,000 and would be done entirely by inmates.

Its construction raised concerns from members of the public, following the admission by the former Minister of Police and Prisons that work at the building site began without the Planning and Urban Management Agency (P.U.M.A.) issuing a development consent as part of its certification process.

Tialavea told the Samoa Observer at that time that he did not think it was illegal for the prison construction work to start without a permit.

“I made the call for the project to proceed without a permit," he said. 

The then Minister of Works Transport and Infrastructure, late Papali’i Niko Lee Hang, confirmed that his Ministry stepped in to stop the work at Vaia’ata Prison due to the absence of a permit.

The then Minister of Finance and Chairman of the Tenders Board, Sili Epa Tuioti, came forward and said that the plans to rebuild the Vaia'ata prison by prisoners, without a company or tender process had been scrapped. 

But 10 days after the announcement by the former Finance Minister Sili, Prisons Minister Tialavea revealed on 20 October 2020 that Cabinet had overturned the decision of the Tenders Board and gone back to the original plan to use the prisoners. 

And as the Minister responsible, he said the prisoners-turned-builders would work under his direct supervision. 

The project which was funded by public funds aimed to house 100 prisoners and include a new administration building. 

The project is part of the national initiative by the Samoa Prisons Authority to upgrade and improve prison conditions in the country.