Justice Vui's letter to M.A.F.: No evidence to ban paraquat - Rubbish!!

By Justice Vui Clarence Nelson • 04 February 2024, 8:00PM

I refer to your recent press release referring to “a stakeholder consultation held in December 2023” on the issue of paraquat use in Samoa and the ‘Pesticide Management Group Analysis, a joint report thereon in collaboration with the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).

In particular, your joint conclusion with FAO that “there was no substantial evidence from the organisations that initiated the call for a ban” and that there was not provided any “data or evidence to support suicide cases and dog killing.”

I would have thought that as the proponents of the analysis, the onus is on you and the researchers to investigate, collect and collate the necessary evidence and data before drawing your conclusions.

However, please be advised there was no “stakeholder consultation” carried out with stakeholders such as the Samoa Coroners Court, which has long expressed its concerns to Government about paraquat. Nor was there any dialogue or attempt to contact us Judges of the Supreme and District Court who have over the years all dealt with Inquests and cases involving deaths attributable to paraquat poisoning.

The issue of paraquat use for suicides in Samoa is not novel, it is an established fact and has been so for many decades. This should have been well known to your Consultants or at least made known to them.

It is one that is currently under consideration by the Coroners Court which expects to table a report thereon to Government in the near future.

As to there being no evidence, here is a list from court records that I have been able to locate of people whose death was caused by paraquat poisoning.

The names are a matter of public record but the identity of the children under 18yrs and other details have been suppressed.

There are undoubtedly many more cases.

CORONERS FINDING - PARAQUAT CAUSE OF DEATH
Years		Names	Cause of Death	Judge
2004	1	Vili Avalua male 21 years	Paraquat poisoning	Nelson
	2	Tautaisau Su'a Tevaga male 20 years	Paraquat poisoning	Vaai
2005	3	Tavita Ai male 37 years	Paraquat poisoning	Nelson
	4	Taua Akisa Fuimaono male 31 years	Paraquat poisoning	Nelson
2006	5	Aleki Ale male 21 years	Ingestion of paraquat poison	Nelson
	6	(name suppressed) female 15 years	Paraquat poisoning	Nelson
2007	7	Lualua Gaia male 41 years	Paraquat poisoning	Vaai
	8	Seuga Pule female 27 year	Paraquat poisoning	Vaai
2008	9	Samuelu Manu male 57 years	Paraquat poisoning	Schuster
	10	Sifoua Faamamafa female 25 years	Paraquat poisoning	Schuster
	11	Maria Ielu female 18 years	Paraquat poisoning	Schuster
	12	Lafulafiose Aimoa male 33 years	Paraquat poisoning	Schuster
	13	(name suppressed) male 14 years	Paraquat poisoning	Vaai
2009	14	Lemau Togiaso male 28 years	Paraquat poisoning	Vaai
2010	15	Ulutoa Naoupu male 31 years	Ingestion of paraquat poison	Schuster
2012	16	Arthur Timoteo male 22 years	Paraquat poisoning	Vaai
	17	Tamalielu Tilo male 18 years	Drinking paraquat	Tuatagaloa
	18	(name suppressed) male 17 years	Ingestion paraquat	Tuatagaloa
	19	Utailesolo Lanuola Ropeti male 37 years	Paraquat poisoning	Vaai
2013	20	Uipo Galumalemana male 37 years	Consumption of paraquat	Tuatagaloa
2014	21	(name suppressed) female 16 years	Drinking paraquat	Vaai
	22	Moe a.k.a Gafa Fuiava male 35 years	Paraquat poisoning	Tuala-Warren
	23	Vaifoa Vaofanua male 60 years	Paraquat poisoning	Vaai
	24	Tise Leiataua male 68 years	Paraquat poisoning	Vaai
	25	Lanuola Tiata female 26 years	Paraquat poisoning	Vaai
	26	Sofai Faaootoa female 51 years	Paraquat poisoning	Vaai
	27	Loia Lo male 36 years	Paraquat poisoning	Vaai
	28	Leleifotu Tolofua male 29 years	Paraquat poisoning	Vaai
	29	Lolagi Neemia male 28 years	Paraquat poisoning	Vaai
	30	Nicky Ioane male 19 years	Paraquat poisoning	Vaai
	31	(name suppressed) female 17 years	Paraquat Ingestion	Vaai
	32	Nive Tuia female	Paraquat Ingestion	Vaai
	33	Pautalo Vaiomanu male 35 years	Paraquat Ingestion	Vaai
2015	34	Elato Tautalaaso male 55 years	Ingestion paraquat	Tuatagaloa
	35	Peter Faaalualu male 48 years	Drinking paraquat	Tuatagaloa
	36	Ruta Elisara female 21 years	Paraquat poisoning	Vaai
	37	Tuaoi Sootaga female 25 years	Paraquat poisoning	Vaai
	38	Fuapepe Lafaele female 25 years	Paraquat poisoning	Vaai
	39	Jacinta Lealofi Teofilo female 19 years	Paraquat poisoning	Vaai
	40	Tovio Sefilino male 60 years	Paraquat poisoning	Vaai
	41	Molosi Maeli male 42 years	Paraquat poisoning	Vaai
	42	Uati Filipo male 32 years	Paraquat Ingestion	Vaai
	43	(name suppressed) female 16 years	Paraquat Ingestion	Vaai
	44	Avau Taefu male 40 years	Paraquat Ingestion	Vaai
	45	Petelo Petelo male 24 years	Paraquat poisoning	Vaai
	46	Titi Seiuli male 25 years of	Paraquat poisoning	Vaai
	47	Vitale Vitale male 18 years	Paraquat Ingestion	Vaai
	48	Theresa Senio female 18 years	Paraquat Ingestion	Vaai
	49	Afereti Peteli male 21 years	Paraquat poisoning	Roma
	50	Apolonia Filipo female 20 years	Paraquat poisoning	Vaai
	51	Mila Faafiti male 18 years	Paraquat poisoning	Vaai
	52	(name suppressed) female 15 years	Paraquat Ingestion	Vaai
	53	Puaaelo Siupolu female 27 years	Paraquat Ingestion	Vaai
	54	Kelemete Siaosi male 30 years	Paraquat Ingestion	Vaai
	55	Ma'I Foma'I male 46 years	Paraquat Ingestion	Vaai
	56	(name suppressed) female 12 years	Ingestion paraquat	Tuala-Warren
	57	Fofo Solofa female 22 years	Paraquat Ingestion	Vaai
	58	Lino Tuese male 19 years	Paraquat Ingestion	Vaai
	59	Serita Tasesa female 19 years	Paraquat poisoning	Vaai
	60	Esekia Manase male 21 years	Paraquat poisoning	Vaai
2016	61	(name suppressed) male 17 years	Paraquat poisoning	Vaai
	62	Saofaiga Kolena female 25 years	Paraquat poisoning	Vaai
	63	Sale Malaga male 19 years	Paraquat Ingestion	Vaai
	64	Mainifo Tauinaola male 42 years	Paraquat Ingestion	Vaai
	65	Maleifua Simataua male 21 years	Paraquat Ingestion	Vaai
	66	Stella Ioane female 36 years	Paraquat Ingestion	Vaai
	67	Maotasa Mase male 42 years	Paraquat poisoning	Vaai
	68	Vaeau Vaeono Geueli male 66 years	Paraquat poisoning	Vaai
	69	Faletoa Soolefai Pulemagafa male 56 years	Paraquat poisoning	Vaai
	70	Maima Ena female 33 years	Paraquat poisoning	Vaai
2017	71	Nickson Salevana male 18 years	Paraquat Ingestion	Roma
	72	Ioane Sula male 59 years	Paraquat poisoning	Roma
	73	Lolesio Ulugia male 36 years	Paraquat poisoning	Papalii
2018	74	Tufue Pule female 30 years	Paraquat Ingestion	Roma

The number of deaths for the period 2018 to the present will undoubtedly be canvassed in the forthcoming Coroners Report.

This List of Death I assure you grows every year.

Had your Consultants bothered to enquire, this and any other pertinent information could have been made readily available to them by the Court and the Ministry of Justice and Courts Administration.

The Police who investigate and bring these cases before the Court would also have their own data as would NGOs such as Faataua o le Ola (FLO). I am astounded that these scources of information were not pursued.

As for the barbaric practice of dog poisoning using paraquat, I have no doubt the Samoa Animal Protection Society (APS) has its own records of paraquat poisoned animals. Something I am sure they would have disclosed without objection. I for one would be more than happy to talk to your people about the 5 dogs my own children have lost over the years to this scourge.

Again this is not a new issue and I would invite members of the public to write to you including via social media to make your Ministry aware of their own painful experiences and losses.

The incomparable Mahatma Ghandi once said: “The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.”

A seeming lack of empathy leads me to ask - Where do you, your Ministry and the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation stand in this moral equation?

It is concerning and borderline criminal that after all these years, your Ministry continues to import, licence, sell and most significantly, inadequately monitor in practice the use of a deadly poison outlawed in many countries of the world, including by our Pacific neighbours. They have no difficulty securing alternative weed-killing pesticides, a task that seems beyond your capability.

I wonder, did your Consultants consult with them?

It is important that Government and other organisation and persons seeking to rely on your joint Report with FAO understand that the above claims and conclusions have no factual basis.

Yours sincerely,

Vui Clarence Nelson

Senior Judge, Supreme Court of Samoa