Dear Editor,

We are now just two short months away from the Commonwealth Heads of Government (CHOGM) meeting in Apia.

According to the irregular updates from Government, everything is OK, thank you for asking, FULL STOP!

Even Cabinet Ministers have been enquiring amongst themselves about the latest status of the preparations.

The Faatuatua i le Atua Samoa ua Tasi government needs to raise its game, beginning with their roadside decorations that are now becoming an eyesore.

The national flags that they used in their roadside campaigns three years ago are starting to fade and fall apart, just like their promises.

The FAST Party practice of using our national flag as a beautification and campaigning tool diminishes its significance.

Samoans look at their flag as a banner of pride, freedom and liberty. To see our beloved fu’a tattered and hanging on fences, rooftops and trees is a national shame.  

As its contribution to the CHOGM beautification campaign, the leadership of the Human Rights Protection Party recommends that the FAST Government clear all rubbish on our streets, trim tall trees and weed grass along the roads.

They should repair or demolish houses in disrepair along our main streets and repaint government and commercial buildings in Apia.

They can even line the road from Faleolo to Apia with giant size photos of King Charles and other world leaders in attendance, posted on every coconut tree or electricity pole.

What a unique sight that would be!

Everyone knows that CHOGM will take place in the middle of the Palolo season.

That is when we usually experience extra powerful thunder and lightning, heavy torrential rain, mountain slips and roads gets washed away.

The flooding in Apia causes destruction to public infrastructure and private property, as we saw with Aggie Greys Hotel in 2012.

We hope the FAST Government already has contingency plans B, C, D, E, F to Z in place.

It is going to be quite interesting if these weather calamities occur when King Charles and the CHOGM nobility are on the island.

They will experience these catastrophic weather events themselves and have a greater appreciation of the devastating impact of climate change, which is our reality.

We all know the causes of climate change and the solutions that are needed.

More importantly, we need world leaders with the moral courage, foresight and conscience to protect and care for our planet which God gifted to humankind.

Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi

Leader of HRPP