Asau Channel

Minister for Works, Infrastructure and Transport Olo Fiti Vaai told Parliament deepening the channel would allow access for container vessels and cruise ships to dock at the wharf.

If it becomes a reality it will translate to economic spinoffs for Asau and villages in the vicinity in terms of new employment and new trading opportunities. The conversations with the company is in the initial phase, said the MWIT Minister. “They have indicated that they have the equipment and resources to deepen the Asau Channel,” Olo said according to a report by Savali newspaper.

Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi said the project could make Asau an international port of entry in two years.

Harbour facilities at Asau were constructed by the government in the mid 1960s to accommodate an American timber company which for a time was Samoa's biggest employer.

Without saying where funding for the project had come from, Tuilaepa announced yesterday the channel would be deepened and widened to international standards.