Page 34 - IB Mar 2020

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the people at large because you could very well disperse it off If there is a bigger threat that we should be concerned
to the environment. about as a nation, it is an attack on the value of families,
including sexual crimes. Charity begins at home and if
IB: What would you want to see in any response plan our homes are dysfunctional as a result of these attacks,
against a pandemic like COVID-19? this will obviously have a flow on effect on the nation as a
Dr Koroivueta: Number one, there should be a national whole.
authority, recognised both nationally and internationally that Which is why we should be talking about this stuff. It is
would be activated at a time like this. We need that authority why we should bring it out in the open and come together
to come into play. That’s certainly within the ambit of the to find solutions so we could strategically deal with them.
Ministry of Health and Medical Services. There is a national Does that mean we have no pride in our country?
body, which is beyond health, in other words it involves other Absolutely not.
stakeholders because you will be dealing with many wider If anything, it shows how much we care. And when it
issues and not just health issues. You dealing with the impact comes to the protection of our most vulnerable citizens,
on trade, on movement of people, biosecurity, businesses, so women and children, we should not let pride get in the
we need an authority that is well coordinated, well-resourced way. We should swallow that silly pride and humble
too to be able to provide stakeholder communication; ‘this ourselves to do what needs to be done.
Who cares about what the world thinks? We say this
is the situation in Fiji, this is what’s happening around the knowing that these problems are not confined to Samoa.
word, this is our advice.’ It’s not just one off, it has to be on They are happening all over the world, in some places
a continuing basis on all modes, whether it be through emails, much, much worse.
Facebook, Instagram, or whatever, they must be able to do What’s important is that we are being proactive and
that. We now have a very highly informative, very educated instead of trying to bury it under the mat, Prime Minister
population. This we should not take for granted. People are Tuilaepa and his Government should take the lead to
educated through the Internet, they can search, whether address them. How? By being transparent and accountable
its medicine, sickness, advise which was not the scenario about it. That’s all it will take.
back then, which is good because it provides for a wider This is also why Tuilaepa’s suggestion that the media
dissemination of information. should turn a blind eye to the reporting of sex crimes
On the other side, you have to manage that information, is absurd. That stuff only happens in countries where
because not all information is 100% accurate. Some will be censorship dictates what the media can and cannot do.
myths. As far as we are concerned, Samoa is a democracy, not a
That’s one. We need to be activated, we need to be highly dictatorship.
coordinated, and the network must come alive. So all levels Perhaps Prime Minister Tuilaepa should spend some
of the community must be well informed, and we must have time with the President of the Journalists Association of
a very robust, comprehensive communication system already [Western] Samoa (J.A.W.S.), Rudy Bartley and listen to
setup. what he has to say. In response to the Prime Minister’s
Then you look at the testing, you have to look at all the comments about the work of the media, Mr. Bartley makes
aspects of the system. You have to look at testing, you have a lot more sense.
to look at the dissemination of information internationally “Some issues may not be favorable to some but reporting
because we have our obligation as we are members of the on it highlights the need for such issues to be addressed by
WHO. Government and responsible authorities,” Mr. Bartley said.
I think the challenge now is for countries to be able to work “In exposing such issues, this opens up discussion and
in the system in a more harmonious way, managing the panic, possible solutions to these problems. The people’s right to
know is the driving force in finding solutions to many of the
so we need to have people with designated responsibilities, challenges that Samoa is facing. Exposing issues which may
somebody working fulltime looking at communications. be unpopular is one way of making the Government act in
These viruses have evolved smarter. As we go smarter, finding solutions.”
the infections evolve smarter too. The challenge now is for Precisely. We couldn’t agree more.
us, because we are talking about the survival of the human What this country should insist on is the truth.
race, how we can build up a proper, national, regional, global Pride comes before the fall and if we look at all the
coordinated response, and making sure information is shared problems Samoa is having to deal with today, they all point
freely, information that will certainly save lives, in the best to a misguided sense of pride which masks the truth so that
interests of our people. Treatment must be lifesaving and all appears well when things are really rotting beneath the
done right from the start and above all done without harm surface.
to the people. Cutting off transmission between people and This editorial first appeared in the Samoa Observor edition
between the travelling public within and across the borders of March 7, 2020.
are the mainstay of outbreak prevention and control.
editor@islandsbusiness.com
publisher@islandsbusiness.com

34 Islands Business ,March 2020