Funds

Samoa's Minister of Social Development Leota Lamositele said the funds will be used by district councils to finance local projects and staff income.

RNZ Pacific reports Lamositele said the size of funding to each district is determined by financial estimations provided by local councils.

Former Samoan Prime Minister, Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi, has criticised the funding scheme, accusing the Government of not having a framework in place to audit the funds.

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Samoa suffered from a severe measles outbreak in late-2019 (which claimed 83 lives and resulted in over 5,700 cases), and resulted in a much larger economic contraction than that of past natural disasters. The global pandemic of COVID-19 has exacerbated the economic downturn and will devastate the economy as it heavily depends on now-closed inbound tourism and remittances.

FitzSimons - now a Sydney Morning Herald columnist and prominent broadcaster – gave Folau a spray on Nine's Sports Sunday television show.

He was incensed at Folau's assertion that he wanted an apology from Rugby Australia (RA) and an admission that they were wrong to sack him for posting on Instagram that homosexuals, among others, were headed for hell unless they repented.

FitzSimons' outburst was unleashed during his Sports Sunday appearance.

"Camera one on me," he said. Israel Folau and your demand for an apology… mate, bring it in tight.

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 news comes a day after the Samoan Union held a radiothon in an attempt to raise some much needed funds.

Samoa prime minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi, who is also chairman of the SRU, told reporters this week that the governing body was "insolvent", with the union unable to "pay off our debts with the banks" or fund player wages.

RNZi reports World Rugby was not giving the SRU any funds towards their Northern Hemisphere tour, which is linked to the governing body's concerns about on-going funding issues and the SRU administration.

"This is an initiative that the government is always trying to push forward more with each year," said Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi.