E.P.C. work contract questioned

The Chairman of the Board of the Electric Power Corporation (E.P.C.), Fa’aolesa Katopau Ainu’u, has strongly denied he had any personal involvement in the contractual business named Fa’aolataga Lawn Maintenance and Land Surveying.

“It is absolutely ridiculous for me to own a company,” he said when he was asked for a comment. “It’s a conflict of interest.”

Fa’aolasa was asked for a comment when a letter addressed to the Editor in Chief of the Samoa Observer, Savea Sano Malifa, claimed he was directly involved in the awarding of the contract.

He said he was aware of the complaint but explained this was “not a business” but a “partnership” created by former employees of the E.P.C. who were made redundant last month.

He said the “partnership” was established after the E.P.C. had made a proposal to former employees before they had been made redundant and they accepted it; he insisted that this was purely an E.P.C. initiative to assist them.

However, he did not say why those employees had been made redundant. What he said instead was that the allegations made in the letter that had been sent to the newspaper were not true.

Asked to comment on the claim that the contract had been awarded without the Tenders Board being informed as the Attorney Generals’ Office had advised, Faaolesa said there was a misunderstanding there.

“The contract is with the A.G.’s office and it is being reviewed,” he explained.

“But first of all, the matter was approved by the Board not to tender this (contract) but to award it directly.”

Asked whether the board did not think it was the right thing to tender the contract since this was the normal process, Fa’aolesa insisted the decision was made by the board.

He also said: “(The reason) the board decided to take that route is to help its [former] employees to set up whatever kind of business they want to set up.”

He said the initiative was a form of assistance from the E.P.C to those former employees whowere suddenly told they would no longer have jobs.

“We can tender it after a year or two,”

Fa’aolesa said, and explained that if the contract was tendered this time the possibility of those employees getting the jobs was minimal.

“It is all part of the policy that the board has structured to assist its former employees,” he said.

“All these people all of a sudden were told they did not have jobs, the E.P.C. would have been negligent in having cut them off, and so it felt responsible to create something for them.”

He said that this was the idea behind Fa’aolataga Lawn Maintenance and Land Surveying.

He also said: “The business has also been informed that they are given a year to perform and show E.P.C. that they can do a good job.

“If they don’t perform by the end of this year, the contract will be tendered.”

Fa’aolesa said: “When we came on board the number of E.P.C. employees was 596,” he said.

“And the task given by Cabinet was to reduce that number, and it is now below 450.”

Asked if the reason Cabinet had asked to reduce that number was that employing 596 people was an unnecessarily huge financial headache for the Corporation, Fa’aolesa was not explicit.

This is what he said.

“The consultant (for) Human Resources that is now on board is half way through the job of assessing each individual position within E.P.C.”

He also said: “We are actively working towards reduction of the work force first. “It’s a difficult job.”

He confirmed though that the payment of $20,422.03 had been made on 30 May 2014 to Fa’aolataga Lawn Maintenance.

He explained that Fa’aolataga Lawn Maintenance was responsible for the maintainance of the E.P.C. grounds at its nine power stations around the country.

He said the scheme “allows the E.P.C. to assist these people with the taking care of themselves and their families”.

Asked for a comment by email, Attorney General, Aumua Ming Leung Wai, responded saying his staff would look into the matter.

No comment by his staff had arrived at press time yesterday.

E.P.C. Chief Executive Officer, Tologata Tile Le’ia Tuimalealiifano, on the other hand, was happy to comment.

He said the awarding of the contract to Faaolataga Lawn Maintenance and Land Surveying, was approved by the board.

He said that since he did not sit in the Board, he had no say in the decisions the Board made.

However, he explained that cutting staff was a part of E.P.C.’s restructuring reforms, which aimed primarily at reducing staff numbers.

Part of the solution was the outsourcing of the night watchmen staff, so that a private firm was now provide security.

This was also the reason Fa’aolataga Lawn Maintenance had been contracted to take care of maintenance work.

Tologata said the E.P.C. could not just tell workers to leave because they no longer had jobs.

He added: “The E.P.C. has to look at ways to help these people because they don’t have anywhere to go.”

He said the proposal by the E.P.C. that former employees could set up their own businesses was discussed last year.

He confirmed that Lawn Maintenance and Land Surveying “is a business belonging to former E.P.C. employees.

“It’s a company of former employees like how SWELL.”

He said: “The positive side of this is that not only has it reduced the number of workers, but it is helping former employees with their lives.”

As for the man who owns Fa’aolataga Lawn Maintenance, Sua Ieriko Fruean, all is well.

“I know that the retirement age is 55 but I continued my services because they were required by E.P.C.”, he said when he was asked for a comment.

And now at 62, he said “I am now finding my responsibilities quite difficult” since “it involves clearing lands that are on mountains and between gorges.”

Still he is not complaining. All he’s thinking about is that he has been chosen by the E.P.C. “because of my experience in clearing these areas as well as in cutting down trees overarching on electricity wires, which was my work before my retirement.”

Said he: “I don’t think just anyone can do it because they don’t understand the work required as it is very risky, and I do.”

Su’a confirmed he owned 50 per cent of the shares. Two former employees he declined to name have 25 per cent shares each.

He said former grounds-men were invited to become partners but they did not turn up.

“I know these people and they are the most experienced people to do the work,” he said.

“Seven of them did turn up,” Su’a said. “They wanted to work for the business but were not interested in having any shares because they didn’t have the money for this.

“The only people who turned up are the two who now hold 25 per cent each of the shares of the partnership.”

Su’a said the contract specified that they maintained the E.P.C. grounds where the powerhouses and the hydro power plants were located.

Su’a said he agreed that the contract should have been put out for tender but then he believed no one had the experience that he and his partners had.

Asked if he had any personal ties to the Fa’aolesa, Su’a said: “No.”

He confirmed though that both of them came from Apia.