Church warned about spending

The Congregational Christian Church of Samoa (C.C.C.S), the largest denomination in the country, has been told to take one project at a time.

The cautionary call came from the Chairman of the Church’s Finance Committee, Le Mamea Ropati yesterday, as the church’s annual conference at Malua continues.

Le Mamea, who is also the Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries, was addressing the General Assembly when he cautioned about stretching the church’s “overdraft".

The Chairman of the Finance Committee did not reveal the amount of the overdraft.

But he said the Committee is taking precautionary measures to ensure the amount does not blow out uncontrollably.

One of the steps that could be taken is to sacrifice the construction works at the John Williams Building at Tamaligi.

“The Finance Committee suggests that the John William project be put on hold while we concentrate on the number one project which is the Jubilee Church,” said Le Mamea.

“For the information of everyone, the John Williams project has exceeded the approved budget from the 2012 annual meeting which was $2.5million.

“It has now cost us $3 million.” Le Mamea said that until the work for the Jubilee church is completed, there should be no more funds going towards John Williams building.

According to Le Mamea, $5million has already been spent on raw materials and other works for the Jubilee church.

The initial budget for the project is $7.2 million but Le Mamea fears that it might not be enough.

“At this stage we are looking at about $12 million for the Jubilee…the same goes with the John Williams, it’s not enough”.

Prior to the Chairman of the Finance Committee’s announcement of the overdraft, several representatives at the meeting voiced their concerns about the multi-million-tala projects.

“We have three main projects all going at one time,” said one of the church members at the meeting. “Why wasn’t there a plan to have one project at a time rather than having all at once so that the church can afford it?”

According to the member, the only way to cope with the multimillion-dollar projects is to call upon church members to make another offering.

The three main projects include a Technical Institute in Savai’i, the John Williams building renovation and the Jubilee Church at Malua.

The Technical Institution was initially estimated to cost $1.5million, excluding staff salaries.

A mother from the women’s committee spoke about the John William work. “If you visit the building, you would find that there are so many broken glasses and even the doors are not well fitted,” the church member told the General Assembly. “I don’t know if this could be another reason why there are a lot of money spent on the project because of negligence on the materials or the contractors are just not good enough”.

Another deacon agreed.

He said that by looking at the building from the outside, it looks new and great but the interior tells a different story.

“I totally agree with you on the broken windows,” he said.

“By looking at the windows, you can tell that it’s expensive and should be handled with care.

“My suggestion is to have a report prepared on the damaged materials…I have no doubt that those will probably cost $1million”.

Back on the floor, Le Mamea said there was no need to panic yet. “We have an initial $3 million tala investment with U.T.O.S and if anything happens, we have that (for backup),” he said. Le Mamea estimated that the investment should be valued at about $4 million as of today.

During an interview with C.C.C.S. Secretary General, Reverend Dr. Iutisone Salevao, he confirmed that the works at Tamaligi has been put on hold.

As for the Jubilee church, Dr. Salevao said it is making good progress. “The women’s committee is offering about almost a million to pay for the windows, tin ceiling tiles and doors while the rest is funded by the church”. He added that the church also has a contingency fee of $2 million in case of any unforeseen circumstances. The general meeting continues today.