Urban West electorate heats up

07 February 2016, 12:00AM

The Samoa General Elections are around the corner and the most interesting contest is developing in the Urban West Electorate. 

This newly formed electorate is very diverse as it includes voters that are residing on freehold land and have registered previously for the Individual voters. 

The voters reside across villages in the traditional Faleata West Electorate, thus to address the needs of these voters is quite a challenge.

Matamua Fred Amoa enters into the fray to contest for the Urban West Electorate, as Matamua believes he has the strategy to represent these diverse group of voters. 

In the voters roll, the electorate is not diverse just in geographical location but also n socio-economic demographics. 

Matamua believes that his experience in the area of policy formulation and regional strategies with Regional Organisation like F.F.A, Secretariat to the Pacific Community (S.P.C), Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat, and S.P.R.E.P etc. will be a big asset for the governance of Samoa. 

He brings years of expertise garnered regionally that will be of great value in solving national issues and policy/law making process

Matamua also has a sound strategy to serve his constituency if elected. 

He has envisaged setting up an electorate office for the Member of Parliament (M.P.). The Office serves as a central base for the voters to meet the M.P, seek assistance and influence the office of the M.P. 

The Electorate Office of the M.P. will be located within the electorate so it is easy for the voters to access. He is also positive that the selection of needs and issues prioritised for action should be based on alignment of these issues with government’s overall Strategic Development Plan. 

With the active participation of the people Matamua firmly believes we can make changes to secure a better Samoa for the future generations. 

On a personal note, Matamua’s decision to enter politics is also to fulfil a personal yearning to follow his father’s legacy, the late Hon. Amoa Tausilia who represented the Aleipata Itupa i Lalo electorate.

“Education and employment are the key issues that require urgent attention especially for the new Urban West electorate,” he said.

“It is crucial that education is accessible for all students in the electorate and more importantly that students have employment at the end of their studies. 

“He sees employment as the pathway out of poverty for many families and a good, solid educational foundation is the avenue to employment.”

Matamua Fred Amoa grew up in Apia at the village of Togafuafua where his family was based while his father, Hon. Amoa Tausilia, attended Parliament as Speaker immediately after Samoa became independent in the 60s. 

His father was heavily involved in the negotiations and considered to be one of the framers of the Constitution of Samoa. 

His father was a Minister of Education and also Justice in a Cabinet re-shuffle during the Tupua Tamasese Lealofi III Government of 1970 to 1973.

Matamua attended Marist Primary School in Mulivai and Chanel College at Moamoa which is part of the new Urban West Electorate. A New Zealand qualified lawyer from the University of Auckland and the first Samoan to hold the Masters of International Maritime Law degree from Malta, he says that this has been a long held duty to follow his father into politics but he had to prioritise his educational responsibilities to his daughters who have both graduated from the University of Auckland. 

He believes that now is the time to honour and face the challenge of entering politics to represent this new diverse Urban West Electorate. He has exciting plans for the development of the electorate.

He worked for the New Zealand Government and the National Australia Bank before returning to Samoa to serve with the Attorney-General’s Office when Chief Justice Patu F. Sapolu was the A.G.

He left Samoa in 1992 when he was offered a contract with the Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency based in Solomon Islands for nine years in the Legal Division. 

He took up consultancy work in the region where he was contracted by the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat in 2006 to be the Secretary for Justice and Border Control for the Government of Nauru. 

He has also conducted consultancy work for S.P.R.E.P and S.P.C. He has worked in the region for over 20 years and knows the regional issues quite well especially in the fishing industry and public international maritime law.

He was recently the Chief Executive Officer of the Samoa Rugby Union (S.R.U).

07 February 2016, 12:00AM
Samoa Observer

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