By Tupuola Terry Tavita

After a five-year hiatus, Prime  Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi and Governor Togiola Tulafono this week  resumed what used to be the annual inter-Samoa dialogue in Pago Pago.

“But formal meetings between our  two governments is not the point,�? said Tuilaepa, “because our officials have  been working in partnership throughout that time.�?

In his remarks, Prime Minister Tuilaepa  Sailele Malielegaoi noted the importance of these kinds of meetings is what  affects one Samoa, certainly affects the other — for examples he pointed to the African snail infestation, the taro blight, the cannery closing, which caused a ripple effect across both economies, etc.

A new undersea fiber optic cable, economic integration, immigration, transportation, joint disaster preparedness and energy were areas of discussion agreed upon for continued cooperation between the two leaders.

TELECOMMUNICATIONS

Gov. Togiola Tulafono revealed  during the executive talks that American Samoa is committed to setting up a new  undersea submarine fiber optical cable within 24-36 months, connecting American  Samoa and Fiji. Samoa was invited to join this project, in which they indicated an interest.

In their discussion, Togiola and  Tuilaepa acknowledged the importance of up to date means of telecommunication to facilitate communication with the outside world.

There is already the fiber optic  cable, which is operated and owned by American Samoa Hawai’i Cable (ASH-Cable)  LLC, connecting American Samoa to Hawai’i and a link from ASH-Cable connects  the territory with neighboring Samoa. ASG owns 33% shares of ASH-Cable.

During a news conference, Togiola said between $23- $26 million is involved in getting the fiber optic to be up and running between American Samoa and Fiji and ASH-Cable is funding a majority of this new project, except for a small amount of money that ASG may end up getting to complete the project. (Whether this is to be federal funding or local funding was not indicated)

Togiola emphasized that ASH-Cable will be the major player and funder for the project, which will further improve telecommunication needs for the two Samoas.

ECONOMIC INTEGRATION

•            Land Swap — Both leaders agreed to  provide one acre of land for the other to use in order to set up offices to  facilitate economic integration. Samoa requested that the land in American  Samoa be in Tafuna.

During a news conference,  Tuilaepa says having an American Samoa office in Apia would make it easy to  address issues that arise in the event of an emergency situation. He says that  having the Samoa Consulate Office in Pago Pago is doing the same for Samoa  nationals in the territory.

Togiola responded that his  administration could sign up to a land deal within weeks.

•            Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) —  American Samoa agreed to again write to the U.S. State Department to be  included in the negotiation process regarding the EEZ .

In their discussion, both sides agreed that economic integration involves many disciplines such as business  licensing, immigration and trade.

IMMIGRATION

•            American Samoa has agreed to look  into issuing 14-day permits on arrival at the point of entry, instead of  pre-departure application. Togiola says these will be issued for those  traveling from Samoa and the 14-day permits will not affect the usual 30-day visitor’s permit.

•            The territory’s Attorney General will look into extending the validity date of Certificates of Identity beyond six months to facilitate international travel to Samoa.

•            Samoa has agreed to waive the transit permit fee for travelers from American Samoa if staying in Samoa within 24 hours.

At the end of the meeting the two leaders agreed to have the respective immigration offices and Attorneys General discuss immigration matters further.

TRANSPORTATION

•            American Samoa agreed to support a cabotage waiver requested by the Apia-based Samoa Air to the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration to provide domestic service between the Tafuna airport and the Ofu Airport.

Such a waiver is necessary because under federal cabotage law, no foreign carrier can operate between two U.S. airports.

Currently, locally based Inter Island Airways cannot fly to Ofu due to the short runway for the carrier’s larger Dornier aircraft; they only operate flights to Fitiuta Airport on Ta’u Island, where the runway is longer.

•            Samoa requested that American Samoa  look into establishing a wharf on the western side of Tutuila to facilitate  transportation, trade and tourism. American Samoa will consider the request and  Togiola asked the U.S. Charge d’Affaires based at the U.S. Embassy in Samoa for
assistance. The Charge d’Affaires traveled here with the Samoa delegation.

Tuilaepa raised the issue of a  wharf on the western side of Tutuila — maybe Leone bay — saying that if the  seas are calm, on a clear day, it would take only two hours to sail from Aleipata  Wharf to Tutuila’s western side. He said this convenience makes faster sailing  instead of the longer sail from Aleipata to the Port of Pago Pago in Fagatogo.

JOINT DISASTER PREPAREDNESS

•            Radar — American Samoa has been  working with its federal counterparts on joint disaster preparedness for the  two Samoas that includes setting up radar to cover west of Savai’i island in  Samoa.

•            Dedicated telephone lines — leaders agreed to set up dedicated emergency telephone lines for communication between the two countries’ weather service offices for communication during natural disasters.

•            Tsunami warning levels — Both  leaders agreed for the need to standardize tsunami warning threshold levels to  facilitate expedited warnings to the public in both Samoas. Appropriate  officials are directed to look into this matter.

During their discussions, both  leaders agreed that joint disaster preparedness is a priority issue especially  for tropical cyclones and tsunami warnings.

ENERGY

During their discussion, both  leaders:

•            agreed to share information  regarding renewable energy efforts occurring within the respective nations,  such as solar and hydro energy; and

•            encourage the respective attorneys  general of both sides to review oil spill legislation options. Other issues from the inter Samoa
talks will be in future editions of Samoa News.

In addition to the main issues  reported earlier in Samoa News (Oct. 11 edition), tourism, sports, environment,  contact points, and mutual legal assistance are other areas of discussions  agreed upon by the two Samoas, for continued cooperation, according to the  “official meeting record�? of the Inter Samoa talks held Monday this week hosted  by American Samoa.

For tourism, Gov. Togiola  Tulafono and Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi “agreed on the  importance of working together on tourism for economic development�?. Additionally, they agreed “to continue working together on joint tourism  opportunities especially joint marketing to cruise lines.�?

Since last year, Tourism  officials of the two Samoas started efforts to promote the two Samoas at  international tourism events such as with cruise lines.

In sports, the leaders agreed to  the revival of the Samoa Games, according to the official meeting record, which  also states that in the area of environment, both leaders encouraged the  environmental sectors to continue collaboration on important cross border  initiatives.

The last Samoa Games, held in  Apia in 2003, had some 20 athletes from the territory participated in it. The  last Samoa Games before that was in 2001. Among the goals of the games is to  prepare athletes of the two Samoas for regional and international competitions.

On the issue of “mutual legal  assistance�?, the two Samoas agreed to “pursue an exchange program for attorneys  between the two offices of the respective Attorneys General to strengthen  collaboration on mutual arrangements and to foster inter-AG office contact.�?

To coordinate the implementation  of the decisions of the 2012 Inter Samoa Talks, Samoa has appointed the CEO of  the Ministry of the Prime Minister and American Samoa appointed Commerce  Department director as points of contact.

During the meeting Monday,  Tuilaepa acknowledged this meeting as Togiola’s last as his term in office  officially ends Jan. 3, 2013.  Tuilaepa
described Togiola as a leader among those who pushed for the Inter Samoa Talks  to solidify the continuation of the two Samoas working together.

He also wished the best to the  new administration in overseeing American Samoa come January next year after  the November general election. Tuilaepa expressed his hope that the new  territorial government would continue to work closely with Samoa including  continuing the inter Samoa talks.  Tuilaepa encouraged Togiola and the new administration to continue it  close relationship with the United States.

On his weekend radio program,  Togiola said that although this is his last term in office, he hopes the new  administration will take up agreed upon issues from the Inter Samoa Talks as  American Samoa moves into the future.

 

.

 

Share This

About the author