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By Tupuola Terry Tavita in Apia

No way ‘truckloads full of goods’ can be sold at shops, says Disaster Management Office. Every item, every good and every delivery is recorded by a network of Treasury, Customs, DMO and Audit officers

There is no way that ‘truckloads full off goods’ can be diverted and sold at shops as alleged by Porirua Assistant Mayor Litea Ah Hoi, said Disaster Management Office chief executive Taulealeausumai Mailo Laavasa Malua.

DMO CEO Taulealeausumai explains delivery procedures at Disaster Management Office Headquarters Tuanaimato. Photo: Govt of Samoa/Savali

During a visit yesterday to DMO headquarters at Tuanaimato, Taulealeausumai showed the controls procedures in accounting for goods stored at the compound and how the office keeps track of goods distributed to affected families at all hours.

All goods that come into the compound are recorded by Treasury officials who have a desk at the entrance. All moneys that are handed over to the DMO office are also receipted by Treasury and go through their system of controls, checks and balances instruments as is the case in treasuries in New Zealand , Australia or the United States .

Any container cannot be opened, nor items removed or loaded onto delivery vans and trucks without the presence of Customs official, DMO officials and Police officers.

Every delivery, every item and every good that departs the compound is again recorded by Treasury officials. Every delivery is accompanied by an audit officer and a policeman. There are also onsite officials at the affected areas who double check these deliveries.

Every family that receives goods has to sign up to what they had received. A few days later, a team of audit and DMO officers follow up on the deliveries visiting recipient families if indeed they received the goods they signed up to.

“The system is working very well and every item, every delivery has been accounted for,” said Taulealeausumai.

“ There have not been any irregularities. Because it goes through a number of control measures there is very minimal chance an item, least a whole delivery, cannot be accounted for.”

There are many stories making the rounds out there, said Taulealeausumai, “but if you scratch through the surface then you’ll find a completely different one.”

“I don’t want to accuse our people of telling untruths as Lord knows they’ve suffered enough, but in any situation  anywhere in the world, some people will take advantage of it to their benefit.”

It’s only natural, he said, that some will deny receiving any aid so they can get more aid.

“Some of those who have complained of not getting anything, upon double checking with our records, indicate that they’ve been getting aid regularly. Upon questioning, they’d come up with another excuse.”

Taulealeausumai also asked if Mrs Ah Hoi could produce any evidence that “truckloads full of good” are being sold at shops.

“We really want to know because the law is very clear. Anybody found to be doing that will immediately be arrested and charged by Police. We’d go out of our way to nab somebody doing that.”

Residents of affected areas that have moved elsewhere in the country, Taulealeausumai said, are urged to go to their village to get their aid provisions.

“We do not want a situation where victims are farmed out to families in Apia so their provisions could be distributed to their relatives not affected by the tsunami. That has already happened. There are dubious ways to get around the system and we want to plug those loopholes.”

DMO officials are puzzled that despite ‘wild stories’ running around out there, no local media has ever bothered to come to see for themselves if such an incident was possible.

‘We are more than happy to explain to them our procedures,” said Taulealea.

“In fact they are nothing new as the mobilization of government agencies in the event of a national disaster are clearly spelled out in the National Disaster Management Plan.”

While this publication was there, Tagata Pasefika of New Zealand was also there to interview Taulealeausumai whilst doing a piece on Samoa ’s recovery efforts.

“If you see our local media around, tell them our door is always open to them.”

Source: Government of Samoa.

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