NZ's been a 'good neighbour': Former Samoa government minister backs compensation amount for Manawanui disaster

Photo: New Zealand Defence Force In Sāmoa, further details are emerging over the HMNZS Manawanui response and compensation process. A former government minister has also backed New Zealand's payment of SAT$10 million for the incident as the right amount. The New Zealand navy ship crashed into the Tafitoala reef off the coast of Samoa's Upolu island where it set on fire and sank on October 6 last year. The wreck spilled diesel fuel and rubbish into the surrounding water. It remains on the reef today. The New Zealand government paid the Sāmoa government SAT$10 million - about NZD$6 million - compensation for the sinking. Its own Defence Force Court of Inquiry found human error [https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/557180/crew-on-manawanui-during-sinking-were-under-trained-ship-not-up-to-task-report%5d and faults with the ship ultimately resulted in its grounding. Toeolesulusulu Cedric Schuster was Sāmoa's Minister of Natural Resources and Environment when the Manawanui crashed and was in charge of Samoa's disaster response. In an interview with RNZ Pacific, he said New Zealand had paid the right amount to Sāmoa over the incident. The SAT$10 million was based on findings from a 500-page report the Samoa government's Marine and Pollution Advisory Committee (MPAC) had put together on the incident and its impacts, he said. Toeolesulusulu's interview followed comments from several experts questioning whether the compensation sum was enough. NZ's paid SAT$15 million so far Documents released by the New Zealand government show SAT$10 million was requested by Sāmoa's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade and signed off by then-prime minister Fiame Naomi Mata'afa in May. New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters accepted the request, and both leaders agreed that "the Government of Samoa will not seek further payment from New Zealand in relation to these resolved matters". Toeolesulusulu said the MPAC report brought together various environmental assessments and tests that had been done in relation to the Manawanui incident. It also included a social assessment, which was based on interviews conducted with residents of affected villages about the impacts of the disaster. "The Marine advisory committee worked with the New Zealand navy to look at the boat - where the oil was at and how to take it out. While [Sāmoa's Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment and Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries] ...went and did the survey of what parts of the reef were damaged and the surveys of what fishery areas were affected. "Then a social assessment was done by the MNRE (Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment) and the Women's Ministry." He also noted New Zealand contributed SAT$5 million when the Manawanui crashed to cover immediate response costs for the Sāmoa government in October 2024. This was separate to this year's SAT$10 million payment. Despite that, impacted communities in the districts of Safata and Si'umu have complained they are still waiting for compensation. Toeolesulusulu, who was part of the previous Fiame government, noted New Zealand's payment came through in May when the country was preparing for its general election. The payment was disclosed publicly five months later in October when the New Zealand government announced it at the one-year anniversary of the disaster. "As a caretaker government, we can't make policies so that's why we didn't release that information because it can be seen as politicking, campaigning if we were to release the money and did the whole thing of paying the compensation," he said. Samoa's current prime minister Laaulialemalietoa Polataivao Schmidt took over from Fiame in September. He told media on Friday 19 December payments to affected people should be made by the end of this month or early next year. Photo: Ministry of Works Transport and Infrastructure Samoa Report initially asked for more money Toeolesulusulu said the initial MPAC report submitted to him identified a figure of around NZD$7 million for the government of Sāmoa to request from the New Zealand government. However, he did not believe it was an accurate amount. "I sat down with them and had them explain to me the reasons why they came up with the $7 million and it didn't add up." As a result, adjustments were made and the overall figure submitted to Cabinet for the cost of the incident, which included compensation for families, was SAT$10 million or NZD$6 million, he said. Toeolesulusulu also said an early version of MPAC's report failed to account for the impact of the shipwreck on affected villages entirely. "I said: 'You're missing the whole point on the compensation. That's why you were told in the beginning of the [process] to do the social assessment and find out how many families, how many villages, how many people, fishermen there are [affected]." Asked about the calculation of the SAT$10 million, Toeolesulusulu said MPAC and the MNRE's disaster management office...

NZ's been a 'good neighbour': Former Samoa government minister backs compensation amount for Manawanui disaster

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NZ's been a 'good neighbour': Former Samoa government minister backs compensation amount for Manawanui disaster

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