News from
Samoa
NO MORE TRANSIT
VISA THROUGH NZ
Travelers from
Samoa and most of the Pacific Island nations will soon be able
to transit through New Zealand to other countries without needing
a Transit Visa.
The NZ Department
of Labour, Service International Group Manager, Tofilau Kerupi
Tavita, said the exemption is particularly good news for Pacific
citizens.
"Many of
our Pacific neighbors transit frequently through New Zealand
in order to visit most international locations. Removing the
barriers to international travel is one way New Zealand expresses
their commitment to the region," he said.
The change, which
goes into effect March 28, means the following Pacific countries
are exempt from Transit Visas: Samoa, Federated States of Micronesia,
Kiribati, Nauru, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Republic of Marshall
Islands, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu.
Tavita said people
from these countries will no longer have to organize transit
visas in order to pass through New Zealand. The move follows
the government's decision six months ago to waive the $120 fee
for transit visas for Pacific nationals.
VOTER PRESSURE
COSTS HRPP 3 MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT
Members of Parliament
(MPs) Palusalue Faapo II and Muagututi'a George Meredith have
officially resigned from the Human Rights Protection Party of
Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi.
Individual voters
MP Joachim Keil is reportedly on the way to doing so as well.
The rebel MPs
all quoted the wish of their respective electorates as the deciding
factor in voting against the Government Right Hand Drive (RHD)
Bill that led to them quitting the party.
MPs Palusalu
and Muagututi'a both announced their resignations from the HRPP
during the stormy RHD debate last Friday.
The two are now
independent members and will likely to remain so until the next
General Elections.
Under the Electoral
Act they are not allowed to join any political party, unless
they resign their seat and seek a return to Parliament in a bi-election.
STILL MORE
FIGHT LEFT IN PASS
The People Against
Switching Sides, PASS, is still pressing ahead with the fight
to stop Government from switching sides of the road, despite
the RHD Bill going through the critical second reading tomorrow.
PASS President,
lawyer Toleafoa Solomona To'ailoa, is hopeful the next few weeks
before the third and final reading needed by the bill to become
law, will see some changes.
"We haven't
given up hope, the third reading of the bill comes up in the
next 4 or 5 weeks, so we will continue to take our case to the
people, and hope they will convince their MPs," Toleafoa
told Newsline.
He is under no
illusion however that the final report by the House Transport
Committee, appointed to review the RHD Bill, will come out the
same way as the Petitions Committee report on the PASS protest
petition.
"I am expecting
the same kind of response from them as the previous one by the
Petitions Committee, because again there are more HRPP members
than the independents," he said.
Toleafoa believes
that since the actual date for the switch to become effective
is still open, there is a chance it will be extended from the
latter half of 2009 as indicated by the Prime Minister.
The former leader
of the opposition, MP Le Mamea Ropati, made an emotional appeal
to the Government to extend the deadline, during the debate on
the RHD Bill on Friday.
It was the first
time the Lefaga and Faleseela MP has spoken out since maintaining
a low profile after the collapse of the Samoa United Development
Party, as the recognized opposition in Parliament.
Toleafoa felt
that the Prime Minister should be obligated to consider the argument
he himself raised, that the side of the steering wheel should
dictate the side of the road for cars to use.
"If that
is the case then the right side of the road should be maintained
because there are more cars with left hand steering wheels in
the country. The other point that was made that in one year there
will be 18,000 RHD cars in the country to replace the LHDs we
have now, is a wild dream," said Toleafoa. "How can
we have that number of cars brought into the country in one year,
when after all these years we have only 17,000 cars in the country
right now?"
Toleafoa believes
there is not enough purchasing power in the country to increase
the number of cars to the levels predicted by Government, in
only one year.
Since PASS protests
started late last year, the debate over the road switch issue
has opened new political doorways for the protesters to take
advantage of. Making direct appeals to the MPs by individuals
and villages is a new avenue discovered during the road switch
debate.
"The power
was always there but was never properly exploited until now -
the doorway is important enough as we can see with what happened
to the ruling party," Toleafoa said.
The final decision
on the RHD Bill will be taken when the special House committee
on transport tables its report in Parliament. Parliament was
adjourned after the debate on the RHD Bill last Friday, and will
reconvene the second week of April.
(Source: Samoalive/Newsline)
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