Health alarm false, baseless Tui Cable Chairman says

By Joyetter Feagaimaali’i-Luamanu 20 September 2017, 12:00AM

The Chairman of Samoa Submarine Cable Company (S.S.C.C.), Pepe Fia'ailetoa Fruean, has reassured members of the public there is absolutely nothing to worry about in terms of health in connection to the Tui Samoa Cable.

The assurance follows concerns raised by a Vaivase-tai resident, Sagauga To’omalatai Uta’ileuo, who expressed alarm over the location of the Tui Samoa Cable in a residential area.

Speaking to the Samoa Observer yesterday, Pepe said the so-called health warning is baseless and it has absolutely no technical basis to support such an outlandish statement. 

He added that the publication of Sagauga’s view causes unnecessary panic and concern.

“People need to raise concerns and those concerns have to be dealt with in such a way that is factual, correct and there is a format to respond appropriately to them directly,” he said. 

“Unfortunately in this case, it does actually quote a strong statement with the health warning alert about the Tui Samoa Cable."

The fact of the matter is Samoa is not the first country in the world to have a Cable.  

“There’s a Cable in American Samoa that’s been there since 2009. There’s a Cable in Tahiti since 2010, Vanuatu, and Fiji.

“The point is there are a lot of submarine Cables in the Pacific; they have been reviewed from a Health and Safety point of view to be safe. It’s important for us, to state the fact.”

The Chairman noted the Tui Samoa Cable is no difference from other existing Cables in the Pacific.

“It exists in America, Europe and Asia and it’s very misleading to issue a health warning about the danger of the Tui Cable when in fact the facts do not support that statement. 

“On the basis we basically would like to state on the record that there is no health warning and if there was, there are the appropriate regulatory bodies within Samoa to issue those, namely the Office of the Regulator, the Ministry of Health.

“There are a number of qualified agencies and have the mandate to make those determination.”

Pepe reiterated that there is no need to infiltrate fear in the minds of people.

He reminded that there are a lot of good things and some not so good things that come with the Tui Samoa Cable. 

“The fast internet will create more jobs etc,” he said. 

“At the same time the parents and people in Samoa need to be aware of and that is basically should be their response to the use of technology in terms of cyber security.

“We will accept all the good things but also protect and prepare our kids from the other dangers of the introduction of technology.”

By Joyetter Feagaimaali’i-Luamanu 20 September 2017, 12:00AM
Samoa Observer

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