Samoa

American company TE Subcom is to construct a new cable depot at the Port of Apia, to service and maintain more than 20 cable systems measuring over 51,000 kilometres of the Pacific.

The Prime Minister said it is a significant milestone for Samoa but with the new venture and a proposed fish processing plant it means Apia harbour is becoming congested.

He said that the government will go ahead and develop the Vaiusu port.

The world’s first regional shark sanctuary, the Micronesia Regional Shark Sanctuary between Federated States of Micronesia, Palau and the Republic of Marshall Islands, was established in the Pacific in 2015. It was also the Pacific island nation, Palau that established the world’s very first shark sanctuary in 2009.

Over the course of the symposium Pacific Ministers are building momentum on the leadership displayed to conserve our iconic marine species.

Last week's tournament was the first time the Samoa women had been on the global stage since the 2008 World Cup.

The Samoans missed out on recent international play with the likes of the Cook Islands and Papua New Guinea representing the Pacific at the 2017 Women's world cup.

But at the Commonwealth Nines Samoa defeated Fiji 24-6 and Tonga 20-0 on the way to a silver medal at the tournament.

Samoa's two losses came to the host Australian team in group play and then in a hard-fought 14-8 gold medal match.

Ms Moriarty arrived in Apia on Saturday to take up her appointment.

A statement said she has previously served as Director of the Conditions of Service Section at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), Australia.

A career diplomat, Ms. Moriarty was also previously the Director of the Bangladesh Nepal Bhutan Section at DFAT from 2015 to 2017, and under AusAID was the Director of the Caribbean Program (2009 - 2010).

A ground breaking ceremony has been held to kick off construction works for TE SubCom's depot on the main wharf at Apia.

The Prime Minister, Tuila'epa Sa'ilele Malielegaoi said the international undersea communication technology firm has set up in Samoa because of many benefits provided including political stability.

In a speech at the ceremony he outlined some of the benefits for Samoa.

"The creation of jobs for Samoan staff at the depot, additional employment for stevedoring companies supporting the cable ships," Tuilaepa said.

The Samoa Observer reported the incident happened last week after two students were expelled from school.

The pair had reportedly misbehaved in class and were promptly expelled from Avele, one of two government colleges now being run as charter schools.

They were then alleged to have tried to beat the teacher up.

The school principal Matafeo Reupena Matafeo confirmed the attack but would not discuss what happened.

He said the matter was with the police.

He said Avele College had zero tolerance of bullying.

The merger was to be implemented last month but it is now unclear when it will happen.

Tuitama Talalelei Tuitama told TV1Samoa that there are also pay increases approved by Cabinet as far back as 2013 that have not been implemented.

"We need to clean up these things that have been postponed for a long time so it doesn't bog us down in future," said the Minister.

He added that severance pay for those who will lose their jobs in the merger will be about $US1.9 million.

The project is funded by the Green Climate Fund and the Government of Samoa.

A statement said the target of the project is to strengthen adaptive capacity and reduce exposure to climate risks faced by vulnerable communities and infrastructure in the Vaisigano River catchment. 

This region is home to Samoa’s highest concentration of public infrastructure such as hydro stations, bridges, roads, schools, hospitals, and government buildings; as well as private homes and businesses.

The policy will target the use of social media and internet communication, the impacts of climate change and natural disasters as well as human and drug trafficking crimes.

The return of overseas convicted Samoans is also being considered.

In a gathering for government representatives in villages and members of the public, participants wanted to include better measures to monitor and police the use of social media.

And people also called for the government to seriously consider the return of overseas convicted Samoans as a national security concern.

TV1Samoa reported that the family had reported the broken power line after the cyclone but nothing was done.

A family member said that the Electric Power Corporation only turned up to turn off the power line after the fatality.

Police spokesperson Auapa'au Logoitino Filipo confirmed an investigation is underway.