The Classic Triple Play!

Written by Seuamuli Des Bentin
Sunday, 02 December 2007
Now is definitely not a good time for the faint of heart. Christmas is 23 sleeps away, we are marching to Parliament on the 17th in this the season of something, something and goodwill to all men, women and all manner of creatures that crawleth upon the land, and then there is the frenetic round of Office Parties to apply your time management skills to…Ho! Ho! Ho! It is very disconcerting to say the least to hear some loose cannons talking about someone dying as a result of the divisive changes (Land Reform, Police Powers, and RHD) being proposed by government. It is the sort of logic that makes the Prime Minister’s argument for changing to the ‘clever hand side’ quite lucid by comparison. With every family at kua owning a RHD vehicle that was sent to them from relatives in Australia or New Zealand, there would be a mass exodus from the coastal villages and low lying areas to the plantations, in a classic triple play. Everyone will be a farmer living off the land helping the economy by reducing the trade deficit, becoming active and healthy people in the process, and they would be outside the danger zone the rising sea levels and deadly tsunami waves have been told not to travel beyond. All the coastal areas vacated by these people would then be available for foreign investors to acquire on long term leases under the Land Reform Bill to build Holiday Resorts for the rich tourists who are familiar with calculated risks and are willing to bet that there wouldn’t be a tsunami during the duration of their stay at any of these seaside resorts. Shopping centers like those proposed for Salelologa and Satapuala will be built in strategic places around both islands so that the folks from kua will not have to come RHD’ing to Apia with their produce for the Fugalei Market or even just to get hooked up to their favorite cell phone network and service provider. There will be business and employment opportunities for locals in the service and support industries, government decentralization and outsourcing will mean fewer unproductive public servants and a rosy future is there for all. But take the rose tinted shades off for a sec. and more than just a few wrinkles show up in the picture. We have already seen a test case for the argument to arm the Police. I am not suggesting that Satapuala was deliberately provoked to provide the government, Minister and Commissioner with a case to support their desire to arm the Police, but it is a common tactic. Because of terrorist activities in other parts of the world, we have to step up our anti-terrorist capabilities and may even end up creating our own terrorists to justify the existence and creation of such a capability. When whole villages at kua move to the foothills and plantations, employment opportunities at the seaside resorts and shopping centers will mean that there will be a demand for those with such skills to hover around the fringes just like they do now. How is the government or matai in his RHD going to stop the rest of the family from leaving the hacienda for a glimpse of how the others shake their booty? You may argue that there is no dignity in being a bell boy but it sure beats being bitten by loaka, akualoa and other creepy crawlies at the plantation. And you might even get to wear a snazzy uniform dude. And I still couldn’t see why the whole nation has to be converted to RHD in one foul swoop when there is absolutely no guarantee that everybody at kua is going to move to the plantation once they take delivery of their RHD vehicle from the overseas relatives. The increase in Police powers is starting to look quite ominous when you consider that police intervention could be considered in the national interest when such a huge multi-million dollar gamble looks like going off the rails because the ‘overwhelming majority’ lost the plot or just did not share the Prime Minister’s vision. Have a nice one folks! Comments (2) Subscribe to this comment's feed ... written by GC, December 03, 2007 If the "overwhelming majority" said no to RHD and decide to commit an act of civil disobedience by still driving on the left next year, does that mean the cops will shoot me? Are you volunteering? written by DB, December 07, 2007 As of just now, the anti-RHD committee has only said that anti-gov't banners and placards are not allowed during the Dec 17th march which leaves martyrdom for the cause absolutely wide open! You'll just have to wait until next July to see if the new police powers will include taking out a 'civilian being politely disobedient' or you might be lucky and find them all otherwise preoccupied making sure that the 'overwhelming majority' move to, and stay at, the plantations! Write comment Name Email Title Comment
Last Updated ( Sunday, 02 December 2007 )

< Prev		Next >

[ Back ]

Polls

--ADVERTISEMENTS--

Google Satellite Map of Eveni Carruthers

--ADVERTISEMENTS--

"Where the natives buy and sell"

--ADVERTISEMENTS--

Latest Comments

Samoalivers Signing Off 2008
wink

Malo lava le saasaa !!

Manu Samoa 7s Win in Uruguay
Congratulations Samoa 7s on the good job and well played games. I am proud of the the great effort p...

Manu Samoa 7s Win in Uruguay
Felicidades - Malo le taumafai and keep up the good work - Uruguay's strength is actually in soccer ...

Manu Samoa 7s Win in Uruguay
Faamalo atu i le tatou au.O lea foi ua toe faamanuiaina le au ale atunuu i faaga tama o le lakapi.fa...

Local Fans Eager For Tua vs Cameron Fight
Hi David Tua, Its your big fan from Arizona, I go onilne every week to find out when your next fight...

Social Network

Join the Newsline Team on Bebo

www.bebo.com/newslineS

Become part of the Newsline Bebo Network

Get News via your Email

Subscribe to Samoa Live News Headlines by Email

Get the Latest News on your Blackberry or PDA

Subscribe in a reader

Sounds from Samoa

Listen to broadcasts from LiveSamoa.com
Courtesy of Plantation Feet, SBC(540am) and
Radio Polynesia(99.9 FM)

http://www.samoalive.com/sliveradio.asx

Live on Weekdays from 8am to 9am

Have your Say

We want your Opinion

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
If you would like to submit a letter for possible
publication in the print edition of the Newsline,
please send an email to This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

We want your News

Submit News from your Area
If you would like to submit News for possible
publication in both the online and print version
of Newsline please feel free to email us
at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Become a News Blogger
Have a passion for writing? Interested in
writing articles for Newsline? Email us
at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .
We are looking for Bloggers from
around the world to contribute to our site.