Where are the election promises?

By Vatapuia Maiava and Ilia L. Likou 19 October 2016, 12:00AM

It’s nothing new for politicians to promise the world when they need votes and not deliver afterwards.

According Fa’aolataga Feagai, from the village of Falelauniu, their constituency candidate promised them so much when it was time for elections but has not followed up with any of it.

With a road in a very bad state, one thing that was promised to them was to have it fixed but even to this date, nothing has been done.

“Life here isn’t that easy,” she told the Village Voice.

“As you can see, our village road is just not up to standard. On top of that we have people coming here and turning our village into a rubbish dump.

“They chuck their rubbish everywhere and the smell is really irritating. It’s as if no one cares really. No one cares about the state of our road and no one cares about people living here; that’s why they just dump their rubbish here.

“The smell makes it hard for us to live here.”

Aged 37, Fa’aolataga said that one of the biggest things they struggle with is the dust.

“Back to the state of the word, we are located on an elevated area so the wind is very strong,” she said.

“So when the wind is strong it just blows the dust everywhere, even inside the house. In the middle of the day when the sun is at its hottest, that’s when there is a lot of durst everywhere.

“There are so many holes in the road. Some areas over 60% of the road are gone.”

According Fa’aolataga, during the election earlier this year, the election candidates showed so much sympathy for the Falelauniu living standards but now it’s clear to her that it was all fake.

“The funny thing is that when it came to the election time, there were so many promises made to us about our road but nothing has been followed through with,” she said.

“They just saw the struggle and said we will do this and that and once the elections ended, they are nowhere to be found.

“Promises included changes to the road state, giving us lands and providing us with a better standard of living but where are they now?”

 Fa’aolataga said that all they wanted was their votes and once they were done with them, they just tossed villagers aside.

“For a lot of us who voted, it’s sad because those election candidates got our hopes up,” she said.

“Nothing has been done. They just came for our votes and then left once they didn’t need us anymore. I hope the government now will please help us.

“They see how much we struggle. The dust comes and ruins our clothes we put out to dry and it affects the lungs of the children. We really need help here in our village.“

By Vatapuia Maiava and Ilia L. Likou 19 October 2016, 12:00AM
Samoa Observer

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