The breathalyser calibration process that required Samoa Police to send their equipment to Australia can now be done at home.

The calibration process used to take six weeks because the equipment had to be sent over, will now take less than a day at the Scientific Research Organisation of Samoa (S.R.O.S.).

The Australian Federal Police funded approximately AUSD$20,000 worth of breathalyser calibration machines through the Australia-Samoa police partnership and handed it over to the S.R.O.S.

Police Commissioner, Auapaau Logoitino Filipo said the goal is to reduce the number of drink-driving cases in Samoa especially fatalities on the road which seems to have increased over the years.

"The aim is to reduce the time that we send these breathalyser machines to Australia. It took us about six weeks to send these breathalyser machines to be calibrated but now we got the capability with SROS," he said.

"So I think it will reduce the time to calibrate these machines and hopefully it will save more lives on the road."

Asked whether this can also test for drug use in the country, Auapaau said 'No'.

"But in terms of drug testing, that's the next step I already approached my friend here and we've already requested support in that area so hopefully that will be our next step," he said.

These machines are specifically for breath analysis of alcoholic volume in the blood system. The technology is specifically for alcoholic assumptions of drink-driving which is widely important to keeping the community safe as drink-driving is a major cause of fatality on the roads.

Australian High Commissioner to Samoa William Robinson highlighted that the handover coincides with the celebration of 15 years of partnership between the Samoan and Australian police.

"The Samoa-Australia police partnership is delivering on Samoa's priorities and delivering in a way that is consistent with Pacific principles of engagement," he said.

"We're really proud of that history and we look forward to the ongoing cooperation with the Samoan police to support its priorities.

"Among the initiatives that we announced this week include the handover of calibration machines for forensic analysis with samples in partnership with the Samoan police and SROS."

He added that this allows Samoa to do calibration with these machines in Samoa with SROS which will save time, save money and allow a more efficient delivery of calibration services.

S.R.O.S boss, Fiso Pousui Dr. Fiame Leo further clarified that calibration is a very important part of making sure that the machines are working perfectly fine.

"We have two already been trained to assess the operation of the machines but we want more of our staff to be trained not only to maintain the equipment but also to operate it to a level that will give reliable and valid results," he added.

"It's not a matter of bringing samples to be tested. These are the machines to calibrate the breathalyser units that have been used by the Ministry of Police."