Reverend Maauga Motu, general secretary of Samoa's National Council of Churches, told Radio Australia's Pacific Beat less fortunate Samoans are likely to be hardest hit by the development of casinos.

"That's always the end result of playing games like this at the casino, they will always lose," he said. "Our concern is that the social life of the people will be spoilt."

Tautua Samoa leader Palusalue Faapo 11 agrees with the National Council of Churches (NCC) that the casino will only bring about more crimes and problems not only within the communities but families.

A Pacific service for New Zealand's Problem Gambling Foundation is urging Samoa to start a similar service. The manager of Mapu Maia, Pesio Ah-Hone Siitia, warns of more problem gamblers in Samoan communities, whether they be tourists or locals holding foreign passports. She says the impact gambling addicts can have on those around them is devastating.

"We've seen people losing everything, people losing their homes, their relationships and we've seen people actually losing their businesses, and for a nation or for a community like Samoa, who is a developing nation, and who are solely reliant on low wages and also remittances from overseas, we can definitely see that the impact of problem gambling will be very high."

Robbie Kearney, chief executive of Samoa's Gambling Control Authority, says the casinos will create jobs for local people and attract tourism dollars to Samoa. "Once we've reached the limits of what we can supply from the local Samoan population then the conversation will go to whether they can get visas to allow people to come in and work," he said. "But their commitment in the first instance is to employ locals if at all possible."

Sources

• Radio Australia Pacific Beat
• Talamua Online
• Radio New Zealand International
• Image: The Guardian

Reverend Ma'auga Motu, NCC Secretary, told Talamua that they will be meeting next week to set down a Strategic Plan to address the growing problem.

He said that the young generations are having problems of listening to their parents however, with the help of church ministers, the problem can be solved. The church ministers need to work together with the village leaders to create a peaceful and healthy environment for the younger generation to grow and thrive.

Last week the police in Samoa said 25 people who had been charged with throwing stones could face more serious charges once they appear in court this week.

The group from the village of Vaiusu was arrested and charged after a brawl involving several young people of Vaigaga and Vaiusu villages over the weekend.

The brawl started after a group from Vaigaga allegedly assaulted a Vaiusu youth on the previous Wednesday.

Samoa's NCC has recently played a role in the recent standoff between Satapuala village and the Police.

Source

• Talamua
• Radio New Zealand
• Image: John Corney

The Secretary General of the Samoa Council of Churches, the Reverend Ma'auga Motu, says a ceremony will be held on Sunday to commemorate the dead.

The Reverend Motu says the memorial service on Sunday will be held at the government's burial site at Tafaigata. Some villages conducted their own ceremonies on Thursday to remember the the dead.

"The victims of the tsunami will never be removed from the memories and from the minds of our people. And their death was a very sudden ache in my country, it was a very sudden suffering that came into the country. And to take a hundred and more people, it's too much for us," he said.

On 29 September 2009 a rare double earthquake occurred in the Pacific "Ring of Fire", where continental plates meet in the Earth's crust. Scientists believe the simultaneous earthquakes - measuring 8.0 and 7.9 - occurred under the ocean floor about 70km apart, with one "hiding" the other. 186 people died when the tsunami hit Samoa, American Samoa and Tonga.

Source

• Radio New Zealand
• The Queensland Times
• PINA
• Image the Guardian