SPACE AND SAFETY ISSUES : Cargo containers at Matautu-tai wharf packed into the skies, as the only option left for storage space.
By Mataeliga Pio Sioa
If there is any sense of urgency in relocating our Apia Port to a safer and more secure location then it should hardly be any surprise.
Public knowledge already. Safety is the more pressing worry.
A fishing vessel left grounded right up to the main road serves as a warning signal of the port becoming a ship graveyard in rough weather.
How would the international shipping community react to sending their cargo vessels to a high risk port destination?
If it means higher insurance premiums to sail into our harbour will that lead to costly freight rates to push up national inflation?
The Matautu-tai wharf is already badly dwarfed by the rapid growth of port demands.
As recently as the last Parliament session a week ago, a Select Committee report revealed that more cargo were airfreighted into Samoa than those landed by sea.
The reason is the Matautu-tai wharf has run out of storage space.
If that would appear to be a simple problem to be resolved easily, try wrestling with this hard fact.
There is no more room for the port to expand – FULL STOP.
When opposition leader Tuilaepa pointed this out, he left himself in danger of having his lights punched out, by a smouldering Works Minister Olo.
Thankfully the Minister found some consolation by mumbling about “plans underway” for a new port.
The Vaiusu Bay remains the most ideal location. The support arguments by the previous HRPP Government are hard to fault.
But damages to fishing grounds claimed to be the livelihood for villages in the area and to the nearby mangroves overruled all.
Lets make no mention of rival political policies by the ruling party for now.
What is puzzling though is when the Matautu-tai wharf was turned into a national port, it left the rich fishing grounds for nearby villages along the coastal sea-front in ruins.
So too were mangroves as far out as at Taumeasina although the Samoa Hotel Resort/Royal Samoa, is largely to blame for that – an issue worth debating along the same lines better left for another time.
Corals disintegrated into sand and with it the habitat for marine life all the way from Matautu-tai to Vaiala, and Moata’a villages.
Villagers did complain about these damaging environmental effects but strangely enough they have since adapted to the benefits from the port changes.
The Matautu-tai wharf gave birth to the Port of Apia and its comparative worth as a crucial economic asset for the whole country needs no defence.
Should Vaiusu Bay as the new Port of Apia be any different?
The Samoa Ports Authority dividend pay-outs to the people of Samoa of just over ST$23.6m over 7 consecutive years, underlines the amazing revenue earning capacity from the port.
Moving forward, there are two key issues, however, to be factored into our highly profitable port revenue earning prospects.
Firstly, how quickly will the spread of high-risk safety warnings to the international shipping community of the Apia Port, erode its rich money spinning value?
Secondly, will the setting up of a bigger and safer new Apia Port at Vaiusu Bay earn us more SPA dividends in future?
As we toss these thoughts around this Sunday, hearty congratulations to SPA General Manager, So’oalo Mr. Falelima Kuresa So’oalo and his dedicated staff.
Maybe the SPA Board of Directors should consider a salary bonus for the General Manager and his staff next time they turn a profit.
Remember they have been doing it for 7 STRAIGHT years.- that is 7 years in a ROW.
Are they not worth a rewarding pat on the back?