All shops and tourism operators on the south coast of Upolu will be subject to a fire safety audit undertaken by the Fire and Emergency Services Authority in the next few weeks.

The F.E.S.A. Commissioner, Tanuvasa Petone Mauga announced the audit early in the week at a fire warden capacity training workshop at the Saletoga Sands Resort & Spa.

He said the audit will be done as a joint operation with other relevant Government agencies and will cover all shops and tourist accommodate sites as well as restaurants in the coming week.

For the first time the F.E.S.A. has combined shops with tourism sector operators, which according to Tanuvasa is in the Government's best interest, as it means working with the relevant stakeholders to ensure the safety of the community. 

The Commissioner then made reference to other partners of the F.E.S.A who enabled their work to be done diligently and effectively. 

"Samoa F.E.S.A works with the Samoa Tourism Authority, the Ministry of Police, the Accidents Compensation Corporation and other Ministries to ensure the safety of the community."

He also pointed out that the A.C.C was the sponsor of the safety training and acknowledged the presence of Manager (Safety Promotion and Rehabilitation) at A.C.C. Fagalima Tuatagaloa. 

Fagalima later in the program gave a presentation on what the A.C.C provides in terms of accessibility to funding for accidents that impact their contributors.

F.E.S.A. Deputy Commissioner Aufa'i Petaia Tausanimaiomanu also made presentations during the training and spoke about safety issues, such as the use of fire extinguishers and also responded to questions from the participants throughout the sessions.

While senior station officer Sola Malele, presented on fire safety and focused on the particular uses of fire extinguishers. 

A supermarket owner from Ti'avea, Kamelita Ioane Tauiliili, told this newspaper that it was good to see that many people on the south coast showed interest. 

LuluLosa Restaurant and Bar owner, Junior Kaio of Lalomanu also said that the training was interesting and this was a need for all businesses especially those in the tourism sector.