Dear Editor,

Last Friday I attended the reopening of the Sheraton Beach Hotel at Faleolo on an invitation from the Minister in Charge, the Honourable Lautimuia Uelese Vaai.

And I was grateful for the invitation.

The main speech was delivered by the Honourable Prime Minister Fiame Naomi.

The upgrading of the Sheraton Hotel at Faleolo is a good initiative, which will provide excellent accommodation for our visitors attending the Commonwealth Heads Of Government Meeting.

We strongly recommend that the Hotel Board maintains and manages it well for future visitors to Samoa, well after our CHOGM guests have left.

The Sheraton hotel was established in the mid-1990s when Samoa’s Polynesian Airlines (now renamed Samoa Airways) operated three jet aircrafts, two were B737 and one B767.

They flew direct non-stop flights from Apia to Los Angeles, in addition to Australia, New Zealand and other destinations.

The Airline was under the Minister of Civil Aviation, Hon. Jack Netzler but following a Cabinet reshuffle by Prime Minister Tofilau Eti Alesana, the Airline came under my Portfolio.

In my first airline board meeting which was also attended by the Financial Secretary of Treasury and Laauli Alan Grey, I informed the members out of frustration that the Government would build a major hotel to cater for overseas visitors, as the Hoteliers Association was too weak and unable to respond to the major initiatives by Government to boost visitor arrival to Samoa.

My comments were deliberately aimed at Mr. Grey.

The Hoteliers Association had earlier promised our government that once Faleolo International Airport was upgraded to standards that can accommodate big jet aircrafts, they would then expand their hotel building programs.

We had already built Faleolo with assistance from Australia and Japan, which saw the landing of Air NZ’s B747 jet, the first time for a jumbo jet to land at our International Airport.

And during Jack Netzler’s chairmanship we procured three boeing passenger jets.

Yet, we had no new hotels built as promised by the hoteliers.

The Government was in a tricky “chicken and egg” situation with its investment plans.

Shall government invest more in planes and infrastructure to await the arrival of the promised visitors and increased room numbers?

Or shall we wait for the hoteliers to build more rooms first, before investing more resources to continuously upgrade our airport and acquire more aircrafts to service our markets?

A few days later, Alan visited my Office with a Consultant enquiring whether he could be leased the site at Faleolo to build the hotel.

And since Alan was the only go-getter in the whole industry, he was given the go ahead.

However, more troubles followed.

Satuimalufilufi turned up in strength to cause trouble.

The land was theirs but took over by the Authorities for the construction of the airport in the 1940s.

The Government at the time paid compensation and relocated them on lands where they now reside.

Today, the neighboring villages benefit from the hotel as many of their sons and daughters are employed there.

There was also a top professionally built golf course next door costing about USD$11 million built together with a two-storey Samoan fale clubhouse.

A Pacific Golf Championship which attracted top golfers from Australia and New Zealand was hosted at this course years ago when I was chairman of the Professional Golf Association in Samoa.

Sadly, this Grand golf course was neglected through mismanagement.

The Sheraton reopening is a great opportunity.

But to fulfill its potential and benefit to Samoa, the hotel must be run professionally under the good governance principles of Transparency and Accountability.

Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi

Leader of HRPP