The honeymoon suite where Wendy and Chris Booth were hit by the tsunami. (Photo: Alex Perrottet/PMC.)

SAMOA TSUNAMI SERIES 1: A year ago this week, the tsunami devastated southern Samoa and also hit American Samoa and parts of Tonga. At least 192 people died, most of them in Samoa. The disaster struck just a month after Pacific Scoop had been launched. Here we begin a series of special reports to mark the anniversary of that fateful day last September 29.

Pacific Scoop:
Report – By Alex Perrottet in Apia.

Down the south coast of Upolu are a collection of tourist operations ranging from high-end resorts to basic beach fales.

Many are family businesses and they all provide employment from the surrounding villages. Tourism is an essential commodity and without being able to operate, many have had to survive months without a livelihood. Read more »

Aisake Casimira, programmes coordinator for the Pacific Conference of Churches: “This is a social problem.” Photo: Joe Yaya/PCC

Church leaders at this month’s Pacific Conference of Churches meeting were called on to help deal with the issue of HIV and AIDS in the Pacific, with a focus on family and discouraging “outdated” cultural norms.

Pacific Scoop:
Report – By Alex Perrottet

Church leaders must face the facts about HIV/AIDS in the Pacific and drop long-held prejudices about those living with the virus, says a regional advocate.

Steven Vete of UNAIDS said prejudice and discrimination prevent access to treatment for those most in need. Read more »

Roof run-off water supply in Samoa. (Photo by Red Cross)

It is almost a year since Samoa’s devastating tsunami and an ongoing task for aid agencies is providing for the supply of safe water.

Pacific Scoop:
Report – By Geoffrey Bell.

As access to water was declared a fundamental human right by the United Nations this month, the move couldn’t come soon enough for many in southeast Samoa, nearly a year on from the devastating tsunami.

The tsunami that struck on September 29 last year, triggered by a 8.3-magnitude earthquake, destroyed 20 villages and made more than 3000 people homeless. Read more »

Savali editor Tupuola Terry Tavita. (Photo courtesy of Savali.)

Pacific Scoop:
Perspective – By Tupuola Terry Tavita.

Despite all the bleak talk on the future of the Forum, one thing is clearly coming across here in Port Vila, the Pacific Islands Forum will always remain.

And despite all of Commodore Frank Bainimarama’s huff-and-puff and underhanded efforts to break up the Forum, it will always be the September platform the 14 member nations – big and small, rich and poor – can talk to each other and make collective decisions that will benefit their economies and peoples.

However, a major concern has become what is perceived as a growing imbalance of power in the Forum. Read more »

Editor of Samoa Observer, Mata'afa Keni Lesa. (Photo by Josephine Latu.)

Pacific Scoop:
Op-Ed – By Samoa Observer Editor, Mata’afa Keni Lesa.

This op-ed is courtesy of Samoa Observer – So there you have it folks. A day after he was granted parole, disgraced former Minister Leafa Vitale has sought the nation’s forgiveness in a heartfelt plea (see story).



He did this when he allowed a reporter from your newspaper (Samoa Observer) to interview him at his Malie home yesterday, surrounded by his wife and children. His message was straight forward and simple.
“I want you to write this down,” he said through his tears. Read more »

Home At Last: Le’afa Vitale with his wife and children. (L-R: Pasikale Vitale (son), Le’afa Vitale, wife Sasa Vitale and grandson Hawaii Vitale at Le’afa’s Malie residence. (Photo by Samoa Observer's Marieta Heidi Ilalio.)

Pacific Scoop:
Report – By Samoa Observer’s Marieta Heidi Ilalio.

This report was first published on Samoa Observer.

After ten years at Tafa’igata Prison, jailed former Cabinet Minister Leafa Vitale is a changed man.
During his first media interview yesterday since he was jailed for the murder of a former Cabinet colleague, Leafa told the Samoa Observer no words can describe how he has changed.


“I want you to write this down,” he pleaded through his tears. “To all the people of Samoa, I want to say I am deeply sorry for what I did. Please forgive me.” Leafa, a former Minister of Works, agreed to be interviewed by the Samoa Observer at his Malie home. There, he is being looked after by his wife, Sasa and children, following the Parole Board’s decision to grant him parole on Tuesday.
 Read more »

United Nations secretary general Ban Ki-moon declared all remaining non-self-governing nations (including five Pacific nations) must have complete freedom in deciding their future. (Photo courtesy of the United Nations.)

Pacific Scoop:
Report – By Pacific Media Centre newsdesk.

Five Pacific nations and the larger powers that govern and administer them are being urged by the United Nations to advance toward self governance.

At a forum held this week on decolonisation in Noumea, New Caledonia, the United Nations secretary general Ban Ki-moon declared all remaining non-self-governing nations must have complete freedom in deciding their future – among those 16 states whose official status remains as non-self-governing nations are: Tokelau, New Caledonia, American Samoa, Guam, and Pitcairn. Read more »

Quick on the draw: Writer of this report, Julian 'Quick Justice' Slade, lands a combination on Dave Hallett in their professional heavyweight contest at the Auckland Boxing Association stadium.

Pacific Scoop:
Report – By Julian Slade, Photographs by Dave Cameron.

As exciting young Box Black Joseph Parker mounts his assault on the World Youth Games, it’s an opportune time to remember the pioneers of the past who paved the way for today’s champions. Legends of Kiwi Boxing like Tuna Scanlan.

Super heavyweight on-the-rise Joseph Parker, who won silver in the recent Commonwealth Championships at New Delhi (fellow Kiwis David Aloua Rogers and Nathan McKewen won bronze) is competing at the Youth World Championships in Baku, Azerbaijan, where boxers from 109 countries are contesting 11 weight divisions. Read more »

A tsunami travel time map generated by the US National Geophysical Data Centre. Image: NGDC

Pacific Scoop:
Pacific Media Centre newsdesk

While New Zealand’s tsunami warning was downgraded to an advisory overnight in the wake of the massive weekend Chilean quake, Fiji and all other Pacific countries cancelled their warnings. Read more »

The epicentre of the Chilean earthquake unleashing a Pacific-wide tsunami. Image: NOAA Pacific Tsunami Warning Center

Pacific Scoop:
By Alastair Thompson

New Zealand is among the nations of the Pacific which is on a tsunami watch following a massive earthquake measured at 8.8 on the richter scale in Chile near the city of Concepcion at 6.34pm NZT. Read more »