The HMNZS Manawanui ran aground on a reef off the south coast of Upolu in October last year and sank. Photo / New Zealand Defence Force
By Teuila Fuatai and Susana Suisuiki of RNZ
The future of the Manawanui wreckage and potential compensation payments remain a major talking point in Samoa.
The Royal New Zealand Navy vessel ran aground on a reef off the south coast of Upolu in October last year and sank.
New Zealand paid $6 million to the Samoan Government over the incident, but communities are yet to see any money.
Tafitoala village has been directly affected by the maritime disaster.
Resident Fagailesau Afaaso Junior Saleupu said the New Zealand High Commission and Samoa Government held a short meeting regarding potential compensation options this week.
Three options were tabled around the distribution process. One involved the Samoa Government being responsible for the distribution of payments among families and affected businesses. Another involved the district authority being responsible for distributing payments.
The Samoa Government has previously said it intends to finalise the compensation process once it passes a budget, which it reportedly intends to do at the end of this month.
Saleupu said this week’s meeting, which involved representatives from Samoa’s Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, seemed to be on a tight timeframe.
“It’s not enough time for us to raise questions and… give them our opinion about the problem.”
He believed the Samoa Government should be responsible for distributing the money directly to those affected and said many people were concerned the wreckage remained on the reef.
“I don’t think it’s good for us in the long run.”
Saleupu also said many locals feared the compensation amount, which equates to WST10 million, was not enough to manage the long-term impacts of the wreckage on the environment.
He also said families in Tafitoala had been severely limited by the 2km prohibition zone around the wreckage.
“My village, we are fighting for a big amount for us because we are the… people that are really affected.
“The 2km zone, it covers the area that we access for fishing every day. We’re eating tinned fish.”
Saleupu also said the Samoa Government told locals it intended to hold more meetings about compensation in the future.
New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters said he hadn’t been aware of any locals eating tinned fish because of the wreckage.
Peters spoke to Pacific Waves about the Manawanui. He reiterated that the Samoa Government was leading the ongoing process around compensation and the wreckage, which included any discussion around its removal.
He also denied there was any cover-up over the environmental impacts of the wreckage.
To date, no environmental report on the impacts of Manawanui sinking has been made public.
“It’s not a matter of being covert or secretive about it,” Peters said.
“It’s analysing what we’re dealing with, and I think that probably better explains what’s happening here.”
Peters said the New Zealand Government had been open and transparent in its dealings and continued to work with the Samoa Government over the Manawanui incident.
“This terrible tragedy happened, which we massively regret – no one more than me.”
But Samoa surf guide Manu Percival said the New Zealand Government’s behaviour had not been good enough.
For months, Percival had been in contact with the New Zealand High Commission about compensation for the boat fuel he used in the immediate aftermath of the disaster to assist with clean-up.
“It’s real crazy. No one’s got any compensation.”
He also said it had been difficult to get any concrete answers from the Samoa Government over the future of the wreckage and compensation.
“It’s kind of getting tossed between two different government departments.”
Percival believed New Zealand should remove its wreckage and said the compensation amount paid to the Samoa Government was “an absolute joke”.
Meanwhile, Peters said the $6m was the amount requested by the Samoa Government.
– RNZ