Samoans struggling in aftermath of tsunami

The aftershocks may be subsiding, but one month after an earthquake sent killer waves over Samoa, many families are more desperate than ever.

A special investigation by the country's national newspaper, the Samoa Observer, has revealed that basic aid supplies are not getting to many victims of the September 29 tsunami.

Many large families on the decimated southern coast are going without water and starchy foods and are sheltering in tents and tarpaulin-covered huts, said editor Keni Lesa, who led the investigation.

"We went out there in the hope of finding some good news, some improvements, and what we found was family after family going hungry, going thirsty and living in totally substandard conditions," he said.

"It was a shock, especially given we have seen container after container of aid supplies arrive from Australia, New Zealand and elsewhere."

Mr Lesa said some families had not received food rations for a fortnight, had depleted their supplies and were now trying to survive on root vegetables grown in plantations undamaged in the disaster.

The discovery appears to confirm claims that aid supplies have been abused by government officials or by those such as village chiefs further down the bureaucratic chain.

The claims, reported by local media last week, have been fiercely attacked by the country's Prime Minister, Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi, who said the nation's journalists were "uneducated" and making up "crooked stories" that were "totally unfounded". He urged the media to "go take a closer look".

Mr Lesa said Tuilaepa would not be pleased with what they had found.

"What we saw was undoubtedly some major problems in aid distribution," the editor said.

"We heard stories of aid being distributed to every family in a village, even those unaffected, and other stories of containers only being accessed by a small part of the town.

"Basically it's been a totally haphazard distribution process and it has failed many, many people."

Poverty levels have reportedly worsened considerably in recent weeks, and were expected to drop further, especially with the onset of the cyclone season.

Families sheltering in tents and huts would likely be drenched in heavy rains.

Many survivors who spoke to the Observer said they were worried the wooden single-room government-subsidised homes to be built won't be large or strong enough to protect them.

"It's cyclone season coming up. What are we going to do with that kind of house?" asked Romeo Lutau, who is living in a Red Cross tent with his wife and seven children.

- AAP