Samoa Police Academy to capitalise on potential overseas employment opportunities

The Samoa Police Academy soon to be constructed near the now closed down Tafaigata Prison will boost employment opportunities for Samoas’ law enforcement officers on the world stage.

Savali Newspaper reports this has been the Government Strategy implemented in the overall reform to relocate the prison facilities to its brand new home at Tanumalala.

Since the start of the current administration, Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi and Cabinet have been exploring a new window of opportunity for law enforcers, first respondents such as Fire and Medical to secure lucrative employment overseas as security officers, bodyguards and in the respective career choice internationally.

But a formal academy for specialised academic and physical preparation was the missing ingredient. That is about to change.

All the necessary preparations addressed for the Academy to become a reality have been dealt with however the COVID-19 pandemic is the nuisance delaying the project construction to commence, Police Commissioner, Fuiavailili Egon Keil announced last Friday during the Cabinet Development Committee on-sight visit.

“The main idea is to create an academy that would train those who serve in the security divisions, including customs, immigration, port authorities, airport authorities and all relevant law enforcement and emergency services,” said Fuiavailili.

Potential international employment for law enforcement officers have been in the pipelines for Samoa. The Police Academy seeks to capitalize on the potential market by providing well trained officers and servicemen to cater to international and regional requests.

Government through the Ministry of Police since 1999 has committed a number of Police officers within the last 21 years to serving under the UN Peacekeeping Mission.

In October 2019, three officers from the Samoa Police Services departed for South Sudan to join in the voluntary efforts of the Peacekeeping Mission at the East-Central part of Africa.

Similar to the UN Peacekeeping Missions, the Samoa Police Services have been heavily recruited and utilized in the Pacific Islands, including the recently closed RAMSI initiative.

The multimillion dollar project was originally pegged to begin construction in late 2019 with the contractors Top International Engineering Company. However, with the end of 2019 clashing with the measles virus and the COVID-19 virus in 2020, the project has been at halt since.

“We are in constant communications with the Chinese embassy regarding the potential start of the project, but unfortunately our hands are tied,” Fuiavailiili added.

The academy will be built on a 16 acre strip of land at Tafaigata, where the prisons compound was formerly located.

“The facility will house 120 trainees. At the moment we don’t have a proper training facility,” he added.

While the academy has continued to produce more police officers, the Commissioner says the goal is to go beyond just the police in law enforcement.

“This isn’t just for the police. New Zealand, Australia and maybe even the United States could come to use these facilities as a law enforcement academy to train their law enforcement officers,” added Fuiavailiili.

The Police Commissioner said until the restrictions from COVID-19 open up, the project would remain on hold.

The Academy is financed by grant funding of $16 million tala from the People’s Republic of China with the Samoa Government contributing over $1 million tala.

 

Photo Savali Newspaper Caption: Plan for the soon to be constructed Samoa Police Academy