Samoas fear tourism cancellations

Jason Brown

NOVEMBER 2009

Aid relief to the Samoas is running far below the economic impact of the September 29 tsunami. Australia and New Zealand pledged A$5 million each to Samoa.
New Zealand media reported the A$10 million package as providing Samoa “with the ability to rebuild its infrastructure, restore essential services, and begin the process of economic recovery.”
Reality is quite different.
Samoa alone faces some 380 million Samoa Tala, about A$160 million, in estimated damages.
Representing less than 1% of that bill, the aid pledge joins insurance payouts. A major player, Tower, announced potential claims of NZ$5 million. Those figures reveal the stark future facing the independent nation: a massive gap between damage costs and recovery aid.
Next door, the territory of American Samoa is facing a similar discovery, the damages bill revised upwards to US$150 million after the main island’s power plant was declared a salt-sogged write-off.
Shortfalls in aid join an inevitable falloff in tourism and fisheries exports.
American Samoa has long been one of the region’s few export success stories.
At the time the tsunami struck in late September, the territory’s tuna cannery had on stock some 4000 tons worth US$13 million.
However, the “Chicken of the Sea” facility that supplied more than half of canned tuna for the US was already facing closure.
Political pressure to raise territorial wages to the US minimum saw cannery owners claim they are competing with countries like Thailand and Vietnam, where workers are paid less than $1 an hour.
Plans to pay a subsidy to stay in Pagopago were dropped after Republicans objected that then owners, Del Monte Food Co, were headquartered in the San Francisco district of US Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Economic loss is substantial. Some 2000 cannery workers were paid an average of $5.11 an hour, a US$21 million loss from annual income.
Despite the gap between damages and aid, the outpouring of sympathy and support remains unprecedented for the Samoas.
New Zealand responded with NZ$1 million the first week of the disaster, and another a week later. Within a week of the walls of water, poles for new fale arrived from New Zealand, along with clothes and food.
Australia sent earth moving gear, more clothes and food.

Long-term reconstruction now the focus ---- Duncan Wilson One month on, as villagers in Lalomanu in Samoa and other affected islands continue to grieve for those they have lost, governments and emergency services have shifted focus to long-term reconstruction. Government and aid agencies are focusing on long-term issues, but their efforts vary. In American Samoa, the American federal response looks set to ‘build back better’—to improve infrastructure and even contribute to the island’s economy and emerging tourism industry. In Samoa, authorities are focusing on public health priorities such as clean water and shelter. American Samoa – building back better’ US President Barack Obama immediately declared the tsunami-hit American Samoa a major disaster. The move released federal resources to individuals and villages, and authorised US Coast Guard, army and navy responses. They transported 26,000 meals and 14,000 litres of water to affected areas, as well as thousands of blankets, cots and tents. The agencies also dispatched generators, and began removing 65,000 cubic yards of debris. The US federal emergency management agency (FEMA) is coordinating the US response, and has 300 people on the ground in American Samoa. “When we arrived [in September], our initial efforts were to ensure that the Governor and the people…had all the life saving materials they needed,” said FEMA coordinating officer, Kenneth Tingman. FEMA’s current focus, under the governor’s direction, now concerns recovery. Administrator Craig Fugate says the agency is working closely with local leadership, federal partners and non-profits to meet the needs of survivors and begin the recovery. Assistance extends to grants and low-cost loans to help individuals and business owners. David Vaeafe, chief executive of American Samoa’s new Visitors Bureau, says it has been “amazing” to see the US recovery efforts. “The event was devastating, but with US authorities’ determination, the country will rebuild. “They’re looking to build back better—with better roads, housing, and infrastructure. It’s encouraging to see that people are united.” Vaeafe also says FEMA officers, who occupy city accommodation and headquarters, also provide a much-needed economic jolt. And he says the tsunami hasn’t hurt the tourism industry either. “We’ve had several cruise ships where passengers have donated goods, and there’s been a tremendous amount of goodwill from visitors. People want to come here regardless of the tsunami and they’ve pitched in and given clothes and donations.” Vaeafe partly attributes visitors’ generosity to the high-level response to the tsunami. “As a result of President Obama’s directives and the activity from FEMA and other authorities, the event was high on the US and world media, and people were aware of the scale of destruction. That awareness should also help American Samoa recover from the tsunami—our villages as well as businesses.” Samoa—public health focus In Samoa, emergency services said initial relief efforts were largely effective. Ron Dunham, who coordinated 100 New Zealand medical volunteers’ work in Samoa, said the country’s hospital and medial services coped well in an “extremely busy but focused period.” Samoan doctors and nurses, with assistance from New Zealand and Australia, covered injuries that included broken bones and cuts from coral, to trauma response and mental health services. On the ground in Samoa, other relief workers said the lack of tents for the 560 displaced households was the “biggest problem”. “Our biggest problem was a lack of tents”, according to the Samoan Red Cross’ Sati Young. “We don’t have enough tents. Everybody has a tarpaulin but not everybody has the expertise to make shelter out of tarps. We don’t have enough tents for everyone.” He reported slow but steady progress on sanitation and water services, three weeks after the tsunami hit. “We’re  transporting water for people across the Islands, and attempting through public health messages to encourage people to ensure that water is clean. Construction of toilets and sanitation is a slow process. We have to dig holes for septic tanks, but the government’s helping out with machines.” Like Dunham, Young expects relief workers to increasingly focus on wider public health issues. For Naosa Epa, of Samoa’s Disaster Management Office, is confident that water supplies will eventually return to normal. The public were following essential water safety messages about boiling water, she said. For Epa, the main relief task concerns the building of about 600 concrete shelters for those families whose homes have been destroyed. Housing will be basic but well-constructed, she says, and will consist of an open, square concrete floor, with an iron roof, a flush toilet and a shower. It will have electricity, though questions remain over the funding in certain areas where the tsunami toppled power poles that still need to be rebuilt. “We’ll be working with other organisations to secure funding, for instance through Caritas the Christian charity, or the Mormons, and UN Habitat. We’re the worst hit of the islands, we lost more than 140 people, so it’s important that we quickly recover and help all those affected.”

France dispatched boats from French Polynesia and New Caledonia, bearing more heavy equipment and relief rations.
Japan pitched in with a minor donation of $250,000 in water containers and tarpaulins.
America declared American Samoa a “major disaster zone” and pledged federal relief for the territory along with assistance for independent Samoa as well.
Alongside armed forces, dozens of disaster relief workers, advisers, consultants and diplomats poured into the Samoas.
The scale of the tsunami destruction compares with natural disasters of the early 90s, one cyclone costing an estimated US$90 million in damages.
The south coast of Samoa was an increasingly popular destination for that rare Pacific experience; authentic fale sleeping huts.
Close to the beach, island-style beach accommodation on Upolu now faces an uncertain future.
“Last night family members talked about hoping to leave that place and build again somewhere else,” Tavaga Failauga Gase told foreign media.
Chief of the hard hit resort village Lalomanu, Tavaga sounded determined: “They will leave that place forever.”
Plans are already being laid for rebuilding in Lalomanu and other villages. This time well inland, away from the first choice for most tourists—the beach.
What impact that has on the future success of the US$130 million tourism industry in Samoa can only be guessed.
Loss of beachside fale removes a major point of destination difference.
“If substantial numbers of tourists start cancelling, that will be like having a second tsunami on us,” said Nynette Sass, chief executive of Samoa Hotel Association.
Sass said the industry was alarmed by rumours of mass vacation cancellations since the disaster. The industry accounts for 25 percent of the country’s gross domestic product, she said.
A sad irony of disaster relief is that aid can be a curse as well as a blessing. Already reeling from the destruction of four tsunami waves, local businesses were hit with a fifth—13 container-loads of free food, clothes and building supplies.
Politically popular, early donations came mainly from the heavily Polynesian population of South Auckland.
Not all the news was bad. Wreckage was still being cleared away when EIB, the European Investment Bank, announced a multi-million finance package for small and medium businesses in Niue, Palau, Samoa and Tonga.