Our wonderful CHOGM honeymoon is over, our guests have returned safely to their homes, and we have recovered from the hangover.
Now, it’s back to reality.
Almost lost among the many activities and celebrations was the reported case of an empty Fiji Airways flight that arrived in Apia to be used as a special show for a newly built “regional terminal” and apron at Faleolo International Airport.
A very strange use of public funds considering there is already an International Airport and Terminal Building for all aircrafts just a few steps away!
According to the Minister of Transport, the empty flight which reportedly cost over $300,000 tālā was “sponsored” by the contractor responsible for building the regional terminal, and the “sponsorship” deal should not be of any concern.
However, if the cost of “sponsoring” the Fiji Airways flight is covered in the overall $25 million tālā for the regional terminal project, then it is Samoan taxpayer funds that were used to pay for the project.
This must be the most expensive photo background in our history.
What was wrong with using the existing small planes in the Samoa Airways or Talofa Airways fleet?
That was a complete waste of our taxpayer money that could have been better used to purchase essential medical supplies, fix our hospitals and roads, or pay overtime for our civil servants.
It didn’t have to be this way.
Samoa Airways was a viable airline that would be operational and highly profitable today if the Faatuatua I le Atua Samoa ua Tasi government had a better understanding of the financing structure and economics of the aviation industry.
The short-sighted preoccupation with “debt levels” as a cheap political ploy, and the rush to shut down our international airline has now put Samoa at the mercy of other regional airlines, who are now making millions of dollars in profits from our citizens and visitors.
The so-called debt they were going on about for aircraft lease arrangements would have been paid off by now!
Today, Samoa Airways could have had a fleet of aircraft, including one that would have been used for photo shows in that opening ceremony.
Our national carrier, Samoa Airways, should have been showcased and profiting from all major international conferences and events hosted in Samoa.
This was the foresight that the Human Rights Protection Party government had when it launched Samoa Airways, years ago.
The lack of vision and the shortsighted decisions on Samoa Airways have now come to roost.
And the Fijians, New Zealanders and Australians are reaping millions of dollars of profit from the FAST Party’s generous gift.
It was very embarrassing to watch our Prime Minister being presented with a toy Fiji Airways Boeing 737 Max 8 to mark the occasion of the opening of the Samoa Regional Terminal.
Not to mention the unnecessary carbon emissions of flying an empty plane on a 2,500-kilometer round-trip for a photograph, while world leaders are discussing the impact of climate change right here in Apia.
It would have been more memorable to take some of our Samoan school children on a short flight around the island.
After all, their parents paid for the aircraft to fly empty to just sit idle on the tarmac that was completely under water following the Palolo rise heavy downpour.
Samoans demand greater accountability and transparency in the use of their hard-earned taxpayer money, being components of the rule of law referred to by our Prime Minister in her address to the CHOGM Leaders.
We have lost the opportunity for Samoa Airways and started wasting taxpayer funds to pay for empty flights just for opening ceremonies and photographs.
Add this poor decision-making to the already announced $255,000,000 tālā district projects and millions in lump-sum cash handouts promised over the next months during the election campaign period, and everyone can clearly see that Samoa is set on a direct non-stop flight to bankruptcy.
No amount of overseas fundraising trips and tāfaoga already planned by the FAST Ministers over the next few days to the US and New Zealand will save us from that disaster.
Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi
Leader of HRPP
Prime Minister of Samoa 1998 – 2021