Fuiavailili Egon Keil

Fuiavailili handed in his resignation letter to the Minister of Police, Prisons and Corrections Service,Faualo Harry Schuster this morning.

“My current contract was extended by the previous government to assist with the transition of the Government after the General Election,” he said in a statement.

He said last week, they welcomed the new Minister of Police, Prisons and Corrections Service and with the transition completed, he has decided that his time of service has come to its conclusion.

Emergency provisions issued on Friday include restricting all public gatherings in the country to no more than five people.

Public transport carrying more than five people is to be temporarily halted and nightclubs, restaurants and cinemas are to be closed.

Street vendors have been told to not operate and people aged over 60 have been told to remain at home unless seeking medical attention.

Travel to the island of Savai'i has been limited to just three days a week. Non-essential public servants are also having their hours reduced.

The officer is accused of accepting a bribe from a man charged with the possession of more than $US150,000 worth of cocaine and heroin.

The man had tried to move the drugs through Faleolo International Airport with his Vietnamese wife, who is facing separate charges of bribery in American Samoa.

The Samoa police commissioner, Fuiavailili Egon Keil, said he had zero tolerance for people who betray the trust of the community.

There will also be an internal police investigation, Fuiavaillili said.

The service will take delivery of a new state-of-the-art patrol boat, Nafanua II, in September and the Police Commissioner Fuiavailili Egon Keil wants to keep an eye on how the future shapes up with their surveillance work.

He told Newsline Samoa that the main intention for arming the Nafanua II would be to ensure the safety of the crew during operations at sea.

He said the service is very confident with the patrol boat it will be receiving and the capability of the crew to patrol within Samoa's economic zone.

There was tight security today at the venue for a reconciliation between Fuiavailili and other senior police staff as the formerly suspended commander returned to work.

The commissioner thanked the Prime Minister and cabinet for the decision to restore him as the head of the Ministry of Police.

He said he still had goals he needed to achieve.