Still no monument in place of Samoa’s ‘House of Freedom’

The promise to build a monument in place of an old fale at Mulinu’u used to be called “Samoa’s House of Freedom,” demolished against the wishes of the country in 2012, remains to be seen.

Asked for an update, the Legislative Clerk, Fepulea’i Atila Ropati said the “matter is with the Speaker.” The Speaker of Parliament he is referring to is La’aulialemalietoa Leuatea Polata’ivao.

He was not immediately available for a comment.

Back in 2012, however, before the old Fale Fono at Mulinu’u was demolished, La’auli said the government was looking at the replacing the fale with a monument to honour the country’s first Maota Fono.

"Make no mistake we are not demolishing history, just making it better, we will put a monument to our history where this house stands," La’auli said then.

Nothing has materialised since.

And it might not happen for a very long time.

This is because the current Maota Fono will also soon be demolished to make way for a new multi-million-tala Parliament House, Fepulea’i said.

“At first, the proposal was to refurbish the building,” he said.

“But after the structure assessment, it was found that if it is refurbished, it would need to be refurbished again in another ten years.

“So the most suitable option is to build another Fale Fono, similar to this one, that will last for another fifty years.”

According to Fepulea’i, the new Maota Fono will be funded by the government of Australia as their gift to Samoa for her 50th Independence.

An Australian company, Manteena, was recently awarded the contract for the design and redevelopment of the new Maota Fono.

Manteena is a Canberra-based leading Australian design and construction supervision company with over 30 years’ experience in providing professional services in project and construction management.

The tender for construction will be advertised before the end of the year.

The Luafatasaga house behind the Parliament will also be renovated.

During the construction, Fepulea’i said the Parliament would move to Tuana’imato to use the venue currently being designed for the S.I.D.S conference. While Parliament will use Gym 2, the Office of the Legislative Assembly will use the media centre.

The construction of the new Maota Fono is expected to start at the beginning of next year.

According to the Australian government, the new building will be an iconic project in the region, incorporating best practice in environmental design and climate change resilience.

The building will enable Samoa’s parliament to incorporate projected increases in MPs over the coming 50 years – due to both increases in population and the newly passed Bill to increase the number of women in Parliament.

It provides facilities for both Government and Opposition members and male and female parliamentarians.

It incorporates 125 seats for public viewing, a press and translation area and security considerations.

The project was announced by the Governor General of Australia, Quentin Bryce, during her visit in March 2012 as a gift from the people of Australia in recognition of Samoa’s 50th anniversary of independence and of the importance of democratic institutions in Samoa.

“The new Maota Fono will house the representatives of the Samoan people and is an important symbol of democratic institutions in Samoa,” a recent press release said.

“The Australian Government has invested significant resources to analyse the climate change risks and impacts associated with the building site. The Mulinu’u peninsular which is the site of the Maota Fono is vulnerable to changing weather and climate conditions.”

The current Maota Fono was officially opened in May 1972.