There are very few sobering inalienable truths that come close to these three facts for getting the thinking gear whirring along at near sprocket spitting speed; Graham Henry should not wait until the result of the second Bledisloe cup encounter between the All Blacks and the Wallabies next weekend is out but should panic now, Vaovasamanaia Winston Peters floats around on a cloud of charisma and pheromones but is definitely not Samoan, big picture painters see something big behind the Secretary of State’s flying visit and it isn’t a desire to be lobbed an honorary Samoan Matai title in an alley-oop with our own sky walking Prime Minister, the message to all those in public office or in high profile positions silly enough to be caught paying out hush money, or with a Spencer Trust account, is to deny everything and hold out for the mandatory five days when public memory loss kicks in, rich people have invented a new numbering system for counting money designed primarily to dazzle small time pacific island landowners, and of course that little gem my rugby coach used to bamboozle us with, that it isn’t the fall but the sudden stop at the end that kills you! That’s more than three? It must be your lucky day.
For as far back as I can remember, I have always wanted to be an outlaw and it was mainly due to an early exposure to movies and stories of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Bonnie and Clyde, Ned Kelly the Aussie bloke and the James-Younger Gang. I got quite handy with firearms but didn’t think much of bank robberies which inevitably involved a lot of running so thought about a career in politics instead.
The name of the Chief Executive Officer of Savai’i Village Resorts Limited, Jesse James, reminded me of that time in the distant past. But I am sure that the connection ends there. However, the SVR CEO is the first to have used the new numbering system which I am told by reliable sources has been around for about as long as when SVR burst on to the land lease scene or exactly two weeks.
In Mister James’ letter to the Samoa Observer with his Q & A attempt to clarify some points raised by those “opposed to progress”, he managed to expose my ignorance regarding a new numbering system invented by rich investors. When shedding some light on the blurry topic of the exact “value of the lease that was executed between SVR and the Village of Sasina,” Mister James’ answer was that “the actual value of the lease over that period is in multiple millions of dollars US”. Apparently, this new number comes in between two and three million and is pretty close to but always a bit more than many millions. So aren’t those Sasina people exceedingly lucky! To also be “unilaterally provided….with a special bonus payment of $25,000.00 to express its thanks for the cooperation and assistance that the Village provided” will come in very handy. Legal fees will see that unilaterally disappear before the first project sods are even broken. But even with the “initial advance payment of 120,000 USD” and the “annual lease amount (increasing) over the entire 120 year period of the lease” explanation, we are left none the wiser about any exact figures. I am sure that Samoans and more villages with thousands of acres of land ideal for tourism developments and time-share units will only be too willing to change into “foreign investor friendly” entrepreneurs if they knew how much the Sasina deal was worth per year. We’re not asking intimate details of commercially sensitive stuff like annual adjustments for inflation and a percentage of any profits. To the nearest multiple millions will be rough enough!
When did the New Zealand media start calling Winston Peters Vaovasamania? Just couldn’t help thinking that there seems to be a concerted effort to link his case with a Samoan MP who has been charged with corruption. With the All Blacks losing to the Wallabies this weekend, the nation is in a foul mood and not many would be willing to bet that Winston Peters will emerge out of this one with brylcream unruffled and charisma intact. But it is one thing to be battling against corruption charges on your own, and quite another to have a political ally who needs you in your corner as your “cut man”.
Many commentators have suggested that a complete and honest admission and disclosure of true events in cases such as Tony Veitch lashing out at his former girlfriend is the honorable thing to do. Is it honorable to accept money as compensation and then turn around and tell the media about it? I don’t know. That’s why I’m asking you!
What I do know is the fact that even though I do favor Robbie Deans over Graham Henry as the rightful coach for the All Blacks and had hoped that his team would win the first Bledisloe cup encounter in Sydney last Friday night Samoan time, Robbie Deans’ team is the Wallabies and any loss to the old foes across the ditch is always painful. And there were ominous signs that Robbie Deans can get more out of his team. It is customary for coaches and players to say that they have identified areas that they need to work on for the next encounter, but only the foolhardy would think that the All Blacks will be better next time while the Wallabies will have overdosed on “Dingo” Deans adoration and wander on to Eden Park to be slaughtered next weekend.
By the time you are reading this, Condoleeza Rice, Secretary of State of the United States of America will have been and gone. There has been some entertaining debate in the local media on the value of such a visit by a very high ranking member of the Bush administration to our shores. I haven’t got a bleeding clue what this visit would do for us. Is it a worldwide endorsement of our value as an ally, with a top of the region performance as a progressive world stage player that is much more stable than the fast fading, foot shooting Fiji? Would multiple millions of potential American tourists who are still undecided about where they are going to spend their credit crunch losses choose Samoa once they knew where it was from the news coverage of the State Secretary’s flying visit? Whatever the real political reason, I am sure that our government and people would have extended our usual hospitality to this remarkable lady, even if my politics favor the other side to where she rocks! Have a nice one folks!
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Who is a Sasinian to let go of over 600 acres for pennies?