While most of the workforce in the nation took a two-week break for the festive season, workers and labourers working at the construction site for the Police Academy in Tafaigata have been working continuously.

The new state-of-the-art Samoa Police Academy costs SAT$32.8 million and is funded by a grant from China.

The Deputy Police Commissioner, Papalii Monalisa Tiai-Keti confirmed this to this newspaper in an interview stressing that they only took some time off on days with extreme weather in consideration of their safety.

"No, they weren't on a break but there were days when the weather was extreme and looked like a cyclone, those were the days when there's no work because we also have to consider the safety of the workers," she said.

Samoa Observer visited the academy site on Tuesday and spoke to a few labourers who were excited about the academy being near completion with walls being put up as well as roofing for most of the buildings.

One of them who did not want to be named did not comment on having no break during the festive season but said he is excited about their work having come near its' completion. The workers and labourers were Samoans and Chinese.

"So nice to see it now and it makes us happy to see it close to the finish line. The most difficult part has been completed and we're excited about the outcome," the Samoan employee said.

Meanwhile, Papalii also stressed that the date of completion continues to be as planned which is in five to six months.

"It is still scheduled to be completed in June or July as planned previously and it was a bit delayed due to the unpredictable weather as expected but that's the plan, to finish on time," she said.

The Samoa Police Academy Project aims to build the long-term capacity and improvement of the Samoa Police Prisons and Corrections Service. Its objectives are to effectively train recruits to enforce laws starting from basic knowledge and skills, hence the need for a fully functional police training center, one which not only has a classroom setting but also has an attached outdoor training environment.