The Samoa government is yet to rule out the possibility of building the first hydro plant in the village of Sili in Savaii after a meeting between the minister of Works, Infrastructure, Transport and the Electric power corporation, Tuisugaletaua Sofara Aveau, and the village council.
At the meeting, the matais of the two villages of Sili and Ga'utavai have asked the government to translate the English report about the environmental impacts of the project into Samoan before they will meet again in the next two weeks.
Several matais have told the meeting that they do not understand English despite an open forum held recently between the villages and representatives of the Electric power corporation to discuss the report before the two sides met last week.
But according to the minister the report has concluded that there are no environmental threats to the concerned villages once the hydro plant starts operation.
Tuisugaletaua says the villagers can still get fresh water and food from the river without any danger to their health and environment.
Funding for the hydro plant has already been set aside by the Asian Development Bank.
