A proposal to use the government reserve at Togitogiga to build and develop a town in the south coast area will be assessed and looked into before any decision.    

The Minister for the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (M.N.R.E.), Toeolesulusulu Cedric Schuster said the government takes note of the importance of establishing rural towns. 

He said such plans to consider the development of towns in the Western and Eastern sides of Upolu and the South area to complement Apia town, Vaitele, Salelologa and Asau. 

Toeolesulusulu made the comments in Parliament during the budget debate last month urging members to leave the proposal in their hands for their assessment and analysis. 

One of the Fa’atuatua ile Atua ua Tasi (F.A.S.T.) party manifestos included strategies to develop a plan for the development of Mulifanua as the Western city of Upolu complimenting Apia. 

Other issues addressed by the Minister during the Government response were noting all requests from districts related to land issues and others asking for public land to lease to their district for developments. 

Toeolesulusulu said he has taken note of requests regarding land and works will commence once the new Ministry for Lands and Survey is in operation and its policies and legislation are in place. 

He said some work that needs to be done includes land reconciliation, land policies, and land use plans to ensure the safekeeping and protection of the lands.   

 The new ministry which will manage lands from the Samoa Land Corporation (S.L.C.), land that were under the Samoa Trust Estate Corporation (S.T.E.C.) has been allocated $8.5 million to start its establishment.