The Chief Executive Officer for the Ministry of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, Agafili Shem Leo says media restriction in October is based on Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) Bluebook guidelines.

Agafili explained the situation on Thursday during another CHOGM sub-committee press conference, during which only two private media personnel turned up. 

The C.E.O. explained the CHOGM Bluebook is the blueprint for the high-level meet preparations and more than 20 previous CHOGM conferences have used it as a guideline. 

He noted Wednesday’s press conference where chairpersons from the CHOGM sub-committee went over some of the conditions provided for under the CHOGM Bluebook. 

“These are not conditions from the government of Samoa, the conditions were already in place,” said Agafili. 

“I saw this morning the headline on one of the newspapers, but to further clarify the explanation from the chair yesterday the Commonwealth provided the terms and conditions that guide Samoa’s preparations…those are the terms and conditions and we are no different in our preparations just to be clear on this area.”

 He continued there are areas the host broadcaster determines based on guidelines, like accreditation and various setting up of workspaces for the local and international press based on the CHOGM bluebook which is our blueprint. 

“The same goes for other committees like transportation, venues, security committee there are guidelines for various works.”  

The comment from Agafili was contrary to the proposition from the Chairperson for the Media CHOGM sub-committee. 

Chair and Chief Executive Officer for the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, Lefaoalii Unutoa Auelua – Fonoti said the media has to follow what the government wants.

Lefaoalii made the comments on Wednesday in response to criticisms from the media that the restrictions on covering the event are not how they operate and have different angles in delivering news.

The media was told there would be a media pool that each journalist would be assigned to and the selected media pool would cover various events and share the information they gathered with other journalists. 

All media outlets cannot take their photos or footage for their news item according to the media sub-committee but can use content provided by official photographers and host broadcasters.    

The composition of the Media and Communication sub-committee, Agafili said the membership is selected by the National Taskforce urging it was important to work together. 

He said the host broadcast awarded to government media; Radio 2AP, TV9 channel, and overseas-based company MMG Communications went through the tender procurement process. 

Agafili reiterated the importance of carrying out preparations by the CHOGM Bluebook. 

He noted how crucial it is to work with the media and support the government’s work for the benefit of the country and the 56 other countries that are heading to Samoa for the conference.