Transcript
FALEAUTO TAUA: It seems that the memory of the Mau is disappearing from our Samoan people. But essentially it was a period of colonisation in which the Samoan people insisted that they be treated fairly and certain matai leaders stepped up as we expect them to do and complained to both the German and New Zealand administration. As a result any such democracy as we Samoans might call it was treated with harsh treatment and resulted in the exile and mistreatment both in New Zealand and Saipan. It began as that but then as we were thinking about putting the march together there were two major concerns which came to the fore. The first was corruption which is never reported which is in dire need of attention. The second point is in relation to the land titles registration act. Which has the effect of imposing the torrens system on a communal based people. And much as the land of the Maori people the communal land was broken up into individual title and therefore their society at that time was broken to conform with the colonial model. The same unbelievably is happening in Samoa in the 21st Century. We were shocked to learn that there was an unconstitutional agreement between the prime minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi and the Asian Development Bank. Because the Asian Development Bank said that it would not loan any further monies to Samoa unless they privatised all of Samoa's ministries of government and also made Samoan communal land available to the investors of Asia for their own purposes. Which of course usually means for indigenous people the transfer of their only asset their land into the hands of bankers and developers.
KORO VAKA'UTA: The attorney general has come out saying that customary land is not under any threat under this lands title registration act.
FT: If you look very carefully at the very bottom of his article he says that customary land leases are registered under the torrens system. When I see an article written that way I view it as propaganda. He is not telling an untruth he is only telling a partial truth. If you enter a communal land lease into the torrens individual titles system we know that the title is registered as freehold in the name of the member of the family and that kills all owner rights permanently under the torrens system. But what is new and very strange in section 32 of the Act is that transfer of sovereignty directly to the government. This forms no part of any standard lease, has never been explained. We have relevant concerns and we welcome every legal mind in the known world to come and look at this particular section.
KV: So what do you hope to achieve is it bringing more voices and hopefully maybe more legal opinion as well?
FT: Certainly it is attention that we do need and it is calling attention to the plight of our people. Our people have an hourly rate of two tala and fifty sene whereas there are government salaries in the hundreds of thousands every year. So we are seeing the gap growing larger and larger when we have a corrupt elite and what they pay themselves versus to our poor people struggling. There are still people with no water or power and yet we stride across the world stage, our Samoan government, claiming that we are enlightened. We are just pointing out the discrepancies.
KV: The group is called Samoa Solidarity International Group. So it is drawing on communities throughout the world?
FT: Yes it is. There are members already in Australia, New Zealand and in the United States and in Samoa. And it is international in the sense of we see SSIG as being the Polynesian equivalent of the national association for the advancement of coloured people in America. It will listen to the concerns of any Samoan community around the world, it will fund-raise and it will help to send experts to help our people. Because we still see ourselves as one family.
KV: And how many numbers are involved at the moment?
FT: Well at the moment you are looking at a core group of at least 50 people. That does not include, those who are interested number in the thousands and they are in, broken up into a number of Facebook groups. The core working team sits at around 50 people at the moment.
KV: And you would hope what kind of numbers during the marches?
FT: I would estimate there will be thousands marching. We have just been advised that certain very important families who are the Fautua who are involved with the independence movement they in fact have notified that they will be marching and there are a lot of people travelling to Samoa to march.
KV: And in terms of the government have the SSIG been able to garner some sort of conversation with them?
FT: What we are doing is actually answering any statements put out by the government and that is being done in social media and through the writing of letters to the Samoa observer. But as for a direct approach that hasn't happened yet but no doubt it will happen in future. Essentially what we are saying to our Samoan people all around the world is if you have a problem in your community at any level then please contact us and we would want to come and help you. We are about the people and loving our people.