Samoa’s preparations for the third United Nations Small Island Developing States (S.I.D.S) conference is not confined to just ensuring the venues are ready.
Quietly braving the elements on the hot and dusty streets of Apia is the National Beautification Team, whose task is to make sure the streets look their best, come September.
The team is spearheaded by businesswoman, Su’a Frieda Paul (pictured above).
Armed with spades, rakes, brooms, shovel and a wheel barrel, the team has been working extremely hard to give the Apia Township a facelift.
Yesterday, the Samoa Observer followed their work, starting from in front of the A.N.Z Bank at Matafele going towards Sogi.
“We are tidying up the town because it’s been so untidy,” Su’a says.
“Our goal is to tidy it up so that it would be be ready for S.I.D.S.”
Part of the beautification process includes planting trees where they can. But Su’a says this is proving to be a big challenge.
“It’s hard to grow plants (on the islands because) there is no rain and the soil is hard,” she says. “But we are working on it, replanting some trees and praying they will grow.”
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“The trees, however, would make Apia look fabulous,” she says.
“We don't just want Apia to look nice for tourists, we also want it to look good for all of us who live here.”
Today, Su’a and her team will continue to work on Beach Road. They will continue doing that even when S.I.D.S is finished.
For now though, the immediate focus is September when thousands of visitors are expected to flock to Samoa.
By that time, Su’a and her team hope the trees they have planted would flourish so that Apia would look its best.
She says they are making good progress.
The S.I.D.S conference is 39 days away and Samoa is slowly but surely getting into the S.I.D.S mode.
Coming from Apia to Tuana’imato, a number of roads have been widened with new tar and traffic lines.
At Tuana’imato, there is a new fence around the reserve there.
Elsewhere, venue officials have been working tirelessly to ensure the buildings are up and ready.
The hype for the conference is growing.
Adding to the excitement, many banners and billboards promoting the international meeting are now visible around Apia, Faleata and on the road towards the Faleolo International Airport.
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