Chairman of the FAST and Cabinet Minister Laauli Leueatea Schmidt said they are looking into reports the initial $200,000 District Development Project has been split amongst chiefs in one of the Districts.
The $200,000 is the initial stipend paid out by the Government to start up projects in the respective constituencies as part of the $1 million tala District Development Project.
Speaking on a program aired on EFKS TV, Laauli said this is concerning as this deviates from the mandates of how this program is implemented in the Districts.
Laauli said this is not in line with the bylaws of this program, which is set to develop projects.
The Cabinet Minister urged the respective Chiefs to adhere to the policies on the implementation of the District Development Projects which was established to assist developments, not for personal gain.
“The relevant Ministry overseeing this project made it clear the Districts that do not adhere to the policies will not receive the remaining portion of the $1 million tala is a simple issue,” said Laauli.
According to Laauli, the District of Lepa split their monies of $30,000 to each village, which is unexpected as it’s evident the suspended leader of the HRPP has always been against this project.
Adding that this is not the only District that has done this. Former Prime Minister the Lepa Representative Tuilaepa Dr Sailele Malielegaoi however dismisses the claims, noting this is not true.
“We have already submitted our financial reports to the audit on how the funding was spent on their office, which included the furnishing of the office, such as the Air Conditioning; tables, desks and all the necessary equipment. Tuilaepa said they are leasing a building that belongs to the EFKS church and we renovated the office.”
He said the funding allocated to the villages so that way, meetings can rotate from one village to another that’s what they are doing.
