The debate surrounding the use of the Apia Town Clock is not new and other local war veterans have visited our newsroom over the years to express their concerns.

We cannot imagine the pain and the anguish war veterans have to carry, many years after the last shot was fired, having witnessed suffering, brutality and vulnerability as well as loss of human lives while on the battlefield. 

This probably explains why war memorials feel sacred and holy to war veterans, almost a refuge if you want, and any form of commercialisation would be frowned upon and even condemned in the strongest possible terms.

Toaalii Toafitu, a war veteran who fought in the first Gulf war from August 1990 to February 1991, is the latest retired digger to step forward to express outrage at the continued use of the Apia Town Clock for other public events.

Getting emotional and teary-eyed during an interview with one of this newspaper’s reporters, Toaalii spoke of the importance of the Apia public monument to him as a war veteran, and how he considered it disrespectful that other commercial entities are using it as part of their promotion.

"We have seen it happen time and time again over the years, and we feel like we need to voice our concern so we can do something about it," said Toaalii, in an article (Veteran not happy with Apia Town Clock use) published in the 04 December 2022 edition of the Sunday Samoan. 

"Various organisations and entities in the country have used the monument to promote their products which is a disrespect to the memory of war veterans. 

"With due respect to the different organisations who have been given the okay to paint up the clock tower, whenever they want to and put banners and posters to promote their events and products, it's really inconsiderate to do as they please."

Toaalii sees the Apia Town Clock monument as sacred and a “monument to honour and remember the lives of our soldiers who fought for our freedom.”

He is of the view that Samoa needs to establish a national heritage law to safeguard and protect its national heritage sites. 

"We don't have a lot of monuments left on the island and we need to come up with strong legislation to protect and preserve our national heritage sites," he said.

"It was sad to see how other historical sites had been dismantled in the previous years and hope it will not be the case for the monument dedicated to our fallen heroes.”

The war veteran is correct – Samoa needs strong legislation that will safeguard and protect national heritage sites in the country. 

In fact, for a country with a long history going back 60 years as a sovereign nation, and close to 200 years since the arrival of the first missionaries on our shores, you would have thought that the preservation of historical sites in our islands would be a top agenda for successive governments.

But that didn’t happen during the term of the former Human Rights Protection Party (HRPP) Administration. It has a poor track record in its protection and preservation of notable historical sites around Samoa in its 22-years of power under former prime minister, Tuilaepa Sa'ilele Malielegaoi. In fact under Tuilaepa’s reign, historically important buildings in the 94-year-old Fale Fono and the 118-year-old old Apia Courthouse were demolished in 2012 and 2020 despite public opposition.

It is tragic that today our capital city is devoid of historic buildings, which would have given our modern city’s architectural landscape a sense of character, immersed with the dreams and aspirations of our forefathers.

It is time for the Fa’atuatua i le Atua Samoa ua Tasi (FAST) Government to consider the formulation of a national heritage law to protect what we as Samoans consider dear to our hearts in terms of our culture and our identity.

We don’t have to look far for technical assistance to begin work on this law as Apia is home to the region’s UNESCO Office, which has done a lot of work in different countries around the world on the protection of cultural and natural heritage at the national level.

Under that proposed law there should be provisions relating to the use of public monuments – which would address the concerns war veterans have always had about the Apia Town Clock – and have a clause inserted that would force Samoa’s government of the day to hold a national referendum on plans to demolish heritage sites which ultimately ensures all citizens have a say.