Samoa's new prime minister is expected to shelve a $100 million port development project backed by #China. She calls the project excessive for the small Pacific island that is already heavily indebted to China. usnews.com/news/world/art…
Fiame Naomi Mataafa, the opposition leader set to become Samoa's first female prime minister after a weeks-long political impasse, said she intended to maintain good relations with China but she had more pressing needs to address.
The proposed construction of the wharf in Vaiusu Bay has been a divisive issue in Samoa, playing a part in April elections where long-serving leader Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi lost his parliamentary majority.
The project has also threatened to spark a waterfront contest in the Pacific as the United States and its allies respond to China's growing regional influence. Fiame told Reuters there were more pressing needs than building a new port.
"Samoa is a small country. Our seaports and our airports cater for our needs. It's very difficult to imagine that we would need the scale that's being proposed under this particular project when there are more pressing projects that the government needs to give priority to."
"The level of indebtedness of our government to the government of China was a pressing issue for voters," said Fiame, a former deputy prime minister who joined the opposition FAST party last year. Her government would maintain good relations with both China and the United States.
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