Instead of fixing the road so every vehicle can drive safely, they talk about closing it to buses and other comercial vehicles. It means that smaller cars and pickups will have the road all to themselves to race on, and people in Siumu and Safata, and Falealili will return to long trips to and from Apia. This administration is made up of pin-heads. SUCH STUPIDITY!

First, the government went ahead and approved the RHD switch after major protested from the people, the land bill has passed without referendum, now the water bill? I applauded the village of Sili for standing up for what is rightfully theres. What in the world happened to our beautiful Samoa?

The Minister of Works now wants to close the road from Apia to Siumu, Safata and Falealili for bus to travel on? You must have lost your mind. If you decide to close the road, then do it for all vehicles, and not just for bus and other commercial vehicles. The government should have never changed from LHD to RHD and fix the roads from the begining. Tiavi road has always been a major issue for a long time, and now you want to shut if down.
Sam from kua

so when a taxi carrying babies crashes, killing a few because it was playing chicken with another taxi.. the road should be closed to taxis?

i see stupidity is not limited to the bus drivers who were involved in that tragic incident.

The better solution to the problem is to fix the road, enforce better public transportation safety inspection and improve on driver's education and awareness in hazardous areas. What is your stats on people killed on this road due to accidents and what mode of transportation claimed more lifes? Closing the road is not a good long term solution because putting more buses on the longer roads will put more lives in danger. Longer bus rides put bus drivers to sleep, make drivers speed to reach Apia and back so they can make more money and finally who is going to pay for the extra gas...I guess the bus fare will be raised to pay for that.

The road may have played a role in the accident, but the bus drivers and the bus itself was the problem. Yeah, the road definitely needs work, but given the info made available about the driver, he and another driver played chicken game. You played chicken game with people's life? Another issues was revealed that the bus was not even safe to be on the road to begin with. Who's responsibility is that? Probably the Minister of Works and Transportation. Maybe if the Minister of Work and Transportation were doing their job, these accidents would have been prevented. Instead of closing the road down for buses and other commerical vehicles, why not make sure all buses and vehicles pass annual inspection? The passenger should also hold the bus driver accountable for his actions. Sam agian from kua.

They say this is the worst accident for 2008, wait till next year after the switch takes place. More and more worse accidents are yet to come... how stupid can this government be... looking forward to see what is going to happen to them in 2011 election. will the ppl forgive and forget what they have done as in our faa Samoa....... this is ridiculous.

Who is at Fault--- the Driver for being a complete idiot and moron, let this man serve is due time in jail
Who did not do his job--- the Minister of Self Defense, Works and Whatever else we can add

The personal responsibility lies directly on the driver, we call that a for sure for sure
Safety of the public lies directly on the Minister of Works and others things of that nature, we call that whatever

Why does this Minister not ENFORCE the LAW damn it, so we don't find more of our relatives in funeral parlors and 6 feet under.

Shut down all buses for inpection of drivers in the country. Whats the matter with that demand!
To much of a sissy with a job hanging out at the office eating McDonalds day in day out.
Wake the hell p Minister of Nothing to Nothing of Whatever it is I do..

The End

All Im hearing is Bad Road....Bad Drivers...Bad Ministers...Bad Government...LHD...RHD...Bad! Bad! BAd! Bad!
What about a proper solution for us to discuss on? Im sure you all could think of something "GOOD" to talk about. DAMN IT!!!! Lets discuss on solutions rather than your critics or so called democratic judgment...Who knows, we just might able to come up with an ideal solution for the good Minister to consider....

We are Samoans for God sake!!!! We are the Government!!!!!

Solutions....
Only allow the 3 bus companies who have operated on that stretch for the past years to be the sole operators. No other buses or commercial trucks should be allowed thru tiavi.
I drive over to the south side at least once a week and have never had problems when encountering the usual buses - they slow down to let you overtake, even indicate when you should, when they encounter each other they know how to get past.
The problem is when other buses enter their domain and that's exactly what happened that fateful day. The "palagi" bus did not pull over or stop - this he should have done since his bus covers 3/4 of the width of the road.
In addition - police should be doing spot checks on all buses to see if they exceed the passenger limit and don't just check when they get to town - people do get on & off before and after town
And if people say the bus was in bad condition - not according to the Ministry of Transport - they just recently passed that bus.

Seriously though - the 3 bus owners should get together and sue the government. One of the buses was recently upgraded with a new engine to the tune of 20k. These buses have all had their engines replaced to better cope with the steep hills. No other buses in samoa - palagi or local - can make it up the hills like these guys did. These buses are also serviced much more often than others. The light blue bus gets checked every weekend!
If this ridiculous decision by the government stays - i suggest siumu should go ahead and block the road again - hey if it ain't good enough for your buses, then it ain't good enough for anyone.

Peace.

hey maybe you guys should look into one of the roads going into Fagaloa area (pea alu i kua i Uafato)....the road is worse there and lots of people always gets hurt, so the three people that died thats nothing..( no disrespect though) because more than three people e kau a ga lavevea lakou kaavale pea o i kua i Fagaloa. well not lavevea e kau a ga pau le lakou kaavale i lalo le mako. so how about helping out that villages road too Minister Aveau.those road needs some help desperately. e kele aku ola sa maumau i le ga auala ae leai seisi e leiloa iga mea e kukupu gae ai ele kea sesi isi ga guu...
ia manuia le aso

I too have driven through the Tiavi road many times, and on a scale of 1-5 (5 being very safe and 1 not safe at all), I’d give the road a 1.5. The road needs to be overhauled/rebuilt with longer 45 degree inclines/declines as opposed to the present narrow and winding 90's ...this will make for an easier climb and fewer blind bends and curves ...passing lanes should also be added. These changes should be considered if public transportation (buses) are allowed. I know this will be a major overhaul, but it should be a worthwhile one, abating the risks the current road presents. Get a US contractor to design and build the road! ...faifai lemu!