According to TV1Samoa, Tuilaepa said the main reason for closing the airstrip was safety given the runway was too short for the fast planes used by both Samoa Airways and Talofa Airways.
And he said the threat of drug trafficking was annother reason his government closed the airport.
Minister for Civil Aviation, Olo Fiti Va'ai, recently said in Parliament that he would reopen the airstrip as it was convenient for the travelling public.
Olo said he intended to close the new Ti'avea airstrip down even before a plane had landed on it.
