The fuel price is not only impacting motorists and businesses but also boat operators who make a living through inter-island public transportation.

In an interview with the Samoa Observer, a 50-year-old boatman, Stansilao Alefosio who is one of the public transporters taking people between Upolu and Manono island decried the ongoing increase in fuel prices felt last year.

After constant increases, fuel prices have gone down only in the last two months, but even then the cost of operations remains high. Mr. Alefosio also hopes this is something that can be subsidised by the Government as small boats remain the only means of transportation to Manono.

He said even the boatmen who transport people to Apolima feel the same way.

"It's been really bad for quite a long time now because we don't earn that much from this job but we continue to do so and get whatever we can to help out with the family needs," he said.

"If I earn enough or more on a day's trips I would get like $100 in profit but that's only if there's enough or more passengers than usual."

The boat fare between Manono and Upolu is $5 for adults and $3 for students and children.

Meanwhile, the 50-year-old resident from Manono Island also shared about his life as a boatman and reasons why he would never give up this to find any other job.

He said he grew up observing things around his environment just like most of the kids in his generation and one of the things he learned from his father was giving people access to Upolu and tourists and visiting families on their island.

"I grew up going to school and doing what I was doing as a kid and then as a teenager but this was the most interesting thing for me especially because my dad was next to that engine so I always wanted to try it out," he said.

"Then one day, I realised that what my father was doing also gave some people so much help by transporting them to the mainland and in cases of emergency. Since I was a teenager, I have been driving our family boat and I enjoy it despite the challenges now with the fuel price."

For his late father, it was boats built with timber that were used to transport people between islands.

There is only one timber boat like that which can be seen around the Manono wharf these days as most families prefer the new modern traffic boats for easier and safer transportation.