A Vision Beyond A Wharf And Boat Slipway

Written by Pio Sioa
Tuesday, 08 July 2008
The promises behind a vision like what the Minister of Works, Tuisugaletaua Sofara Aveau, is about to turn into a reality. is hard to fault. One’s expectations agree enthusiastically with the many benefits this series of inter-related developments on the eastern side of Upolu have to offer. Simple commonsense is all it takes to seek out the Minister’s hand and give it a hard shake. Maybe not too hard if one harbour thoughts about why it took so long to kick in …the simple common sense that is. The potential for growth in trade between the two Samoa is inspiring. With the savings the Shipping Corporation is expected to make on its fuel bill from the shorter route for Lady Naomi, it stands to reason that fares will be much cheaper. The nearby district of Falealili is one of our main suppliers of primary produce to Apia, but what if they can sell to the American Samoa market for three times the price they get at the Fugalei market? Travel permits could pose a problem but that is a matter for the Government to handle. There are regular inter-Samoa talks going on all the time and this is something for them to look at. It should be a win-win situation after all if our farmers sell in American Samoa and before making the turn around trip, buy from there as well. Folks at Falealili would be eating Kentucky fried chickens while our fancied towns people are left to salivate. They can not buy any cars to bring home though! American Samoa drive on the right hand side of the road like we are doing now until we make the switch next year. Tourism! Now that is something that should give our economic expectations goose pimples! We already have beach fales earning steady incomes for the area, and breathing right behind them is the construction of a 5 Star Hotel plus other smaller establishments. Then there is the road connecting the Fagaloa Bay, which most have not seen because it was difficult to access, to Aleipata. If as the Minister claims that Fagaloa has the scenic spots to rival or even better those at Aleipata, we could be looking at the transformation of the whole eastern side of the island as the centre of tourism in the country. How about that dream? Yes it all sounds so good to be true. But folks that dream is being made into a reality with the progress made so far in developments. The only one way to find out whether it should have been left to remain a dream is to take it out and give it a reality shake as Tuisugaletaua is doing now. Mind you this is a multi-million tala gamble and we are several million tala poorer if the whole thing turns out to be a flop. But we have to live out this dream. It is a ‘ no pain no gain’ situation. The Aleipata scheme do hold so much promise, even if the skepticism in us scoffs at instances where even the best laid plans has ended up on their back. Of course any best laid plan is doomed for failure if we are going to sit back and will it to fail. Why we should do that is a ‘ cut the nose to spite the face situation’. We can be critical and that is constructive. If there are problems to be envisaged, we should bring them out. In fact yell it loud and long if you have to. Take the drugs problem for example. The temptation for our local produce exporters to mix their bags of taroes or breadfruits with marijuana leaves is obvious. They can make 10 times more from selling the stuff than a bag of taroes or breadfruits can hope to fetch, Then there is smuggling. What about prostitution? We may loath to admit any of that will happen but we have to face realties . We all know that not everything turns out white and pristine. The realities of life do not allow that. What shall we do then? Remain the way we are? Is that the best we can do? Shall we continue to bury our brown heads in the white sand? If we do that who is going to care for our big brown butts sticking out into the open air? Tuisagualetaua has dared to turn a dream into a reality and we need more leadership like him to lead the way. Should we sit back and will him to fail or continue to bury all our economic dreams of well being under the white sand without any concern for our exposed bums? Think about it this Sunday. Comments (0) Subscribe to this comment's feed Write comment Name Email Title Comment

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