Family-focused agriculture projects is one of various expenditure items that will be funded out of $400,000 that the Aleipata Itupa i Luga District Committee has earmarked.

District Committee official Situa Afioga revealed details of the projects that will be funded under the constituency’s $1 million district grant during a recent interview with the Samoa Observer.

He said some of the projects identified for funding under this grant allocation include piggery, fencing and agricultural tools.

"We have approved the next stipulated amount of over WST$400,000 for the district," he said. "The committee has identified agricultural developments for each family in the three villages of the district.

"There will be a piggery for each family, where the committee will employ people to build the fence for the families, and provide litter and tools.”

Mr. Afioga said it is up to each family to feed pigs which are purchased as part of their piggery project, but the District Committee will assist them.

Another project that has been identified is plantations for families, with the District Committee official saying that they found most families in Lalomanu have plantations, ulike the two other villages which haven’t been as productive. 

"So we are starting the plantation project by giving the families their tools, help with fencing and provide young crops for them to grow," he added.

"It is also hoped that within the next two years, we will be able to excavate the soil by refreshing it to help the farmers grow better and healthier crops.” 

Poultry farm is also on the list with Mr. Afioga indicating that they will assist families get into the poultry business.

"We also will be initiating the increase of chicken farms for the families," he said. "We will be providing the families with tools such as shovels, wheel barrels, machetes and so forth to enable them to do their work.”

Asked when the Aleipata Itupa i Luga constituency will have its district office, Mr. Afioga said $200,000 has been budgeted for that expense which will cover the building of the office itself as well as staffing.

"We received the first allotment to enable an office, which we hoped to build at Lalomanu after getting approval for the recognition of government land under German ownership that had been repossessed by the Samoan families," he said.

"But the family on the land protested and we did not move ahead because we also understand that one of the Fa’atuatua i le Atua Samoa ua Tasi (FAST) party manifesto was to leave the customary lands to their original stewards, despite the past historic ownership by other foreign powers.

"I also understand that the government has stopped any lease of lands so we don't discard the notion that Samoan families will be fighting for their customary lands.”

According to the District Committee Executive Officer, Nuutofi Tuese Setu, they are still waiting for the final decision to be made pertaining to a piece of land earmarked for the district office.