Samoa

The sentence was handed down last Friday at the District Court by Judge Fepulea'i Ameperosa Roma who said he believed more people were involved in the thefts from the Bank South Pacific ATM machines.

Judge Roma said there was a high degree of planning in the thefts.

RNZI reports the crime involved counterfeit bank cards that were used to illegally withdraw funds from the accounts of offshore clients.

News that Tonga is officially not hosting the 2019 Pacific has prompted Prime Minister Tuilaepa Lupesoliai Sailele Malielegaoi to put his weight behind Samoa’s bid to bring the games to Apia not only as the government leader but as a competitor.

The Prime Minister has written to the Pacific Games Council President Vidhya Lakhan reiterating that Samoa is more than prepared to host Games.

“Our facilities are available and it was used to host the Commonwealth Youth Games in 2015,” said the Prime Minister.

The woman-led development organisation currently supplies to two markets in New Zealand and the rest of the produce is sold locally. 

According to WIBDI Executive Director and co-founder, Adimaimalaga Tafunai, they use misiluki bananas which are all organically grown.

“We have 667 organically certified farms in Samoa and the majority of them plant misiluki bananas. So we have many farms who supply us, “said Tafunai.

WIBDI originally began exporting fresh organically certified bananas to New Zealand.

Siopili Perez says at the last general fono the new public service commissioner was asked to investigate bringing the core operation to Tokelau while maintaining a function in Apia.

Mr Perez said the commissioner is due to submit a report at the next general fono in two weeks which will outline recommendations on how to structure the administration.

The ulu said while transport and recruitment would stay in Apia, all other services would eventually move to Tokelau.

The police spokesperson Sala'a Monanu Sale Sala'a told reporters two church parishes lost more than $US100000 to the man from Solomon Islands over a false pretence.

According to the police, the suspect was in Samoa with his wife for a charity mission in which they asked the church ministers of the two parishes for money.

He then left the country with his wife.

The accused had also identified himself as a New Caledonian but police found that he was a Solomon Islander.

“There is no reason for us to do such a senseless thing,” Tuilaepa told local broadcaster TV1.

He said marijuana was legalised in Saipan for medical purposes and the place of cultivation of the crop could only be accessed by Police of that country.

In Samoa, hardly a week goes by without a marijuana-related matter going before the court.

Possession of near completed joint have been known to land the possessor with a two-week jail sentence.

Decades of jailing smokers and growers have failed to stop use of marijuana.

Polynesian Airlines will soon change to Samoa Airways according to Prime Minister Tuilaepa Lupesoliai Sailele Malielegaoi.

The national airline will also enter into a mutual arrangement with Fiji’s international carrier, Fiji Airways.

The arrangement will be formalized in a Memorandum of Understanding yet to be signed between the two parties as it remain subject to Cabinet approval, the Prime Minister revealed in his weekly television program, Taimi male Palemia, a production by Samoa Quality Broadcasting Limited or TV1.

In October of that year, police officers locked the then 3-year-old child in a cell after his father had been detained for driving an unlicensed vehicle.

RNZI reports an inquiry found the actions improper and illegal and three police officers were later demoted.

Legal action was started, but a police spokesperson, Sala'a Moananu Sale Sala'a, said the attorney general mentioned the compensation should be offered in an out-of-court settlement.

"The police have admitted their wrongdoing and apologised to the child and their family." he said.

Minister for Commerce, Industry and Labour, Lautafi Fio Selafi Purcell said Samoa now works in partnership with 36 employers and the workers are now spreading over 9 regions within New Zealand.

“The RSE scheme brings in an estimated SAT$20 million per season into Samoa’s economy which itself is a major milestone of the scheme,” he said at the RSE Employers Conference in Wellington this week.

These were the findings of two focus group sessions organised by the Regional Disaster Resilience in the Pacific Small Island Developing States (RESPAC) and the Pacific Financial Inclusion Programme (PFIP) in Samoa last week where the idea of funeral expenses insurance was investigated.