Samoan police preparing for SIDS conference
The Samoa police are testing the country's readiness for the Small Islands Developing States Conference next month.
Transcript
The Samoa police are testing the country's readiness for the Small Islands Developing States Conference next month.
The officer in charge of SIDS planning, Ituau Ale Junior, says with more than 3,000 people expected to arrive in Apia in three weeks, they must be very prepared.
He told Mary Baines police are practising controlling traffic, transporting delegates, and informing the community of what roads will be closed during the conference.
ITUAU ALE JUNIOR: Our primary focus at the moment is for the delegates, especially the VVIPs who will be coming to Samoa for this conference. We have done trainings with the AFP, the Australian Federal Police, who have kindly assisted us in providing refresher training as well as training our new people. We had a mock run, our first mock run. We started it from the airport to the accommodations where we assume the VVIPs will be staying. And this coming Friday we are looking at holding another one, our next mock exercises. We will be looking at transporting all our delegates, and mainly the VVIPs from their accommodations to the conference venue. Also the other part of training we have done, we've put together a riot and search team. We have a strong New Zealand contingent who will be arriving to assist the Samoa police in providing security and safety.
MARY BAINES: So how many police officers will be around during the week of SIDS?
IAJ: The current strength of the Samoa police at the moment is at 700. We also seek the assistance of auxiliary officers. We are also providing security for delegates and VVIPs at their accommodations, so there will be 24/7 security for our guests where they will be staying. We've obtained almost 300 auxiliary officers, former ex-police officers and local personnel who have ex-security background to assist the police with our effort.
MB: With 3,000 people or more coming to Apia for the conference are you concerned about traffic congestion?
IAJ: The government's closing down the school for two days. The primary focus of the government will be on SIDS and we've already established timings for when we transport people to the conference. At the same time there will be uniformed officers at all intersections. We're just trying to make sure the safety of our guests, and also the safety of the general public is our concern.
MB: I know that Samoa implemented some new dog control laws ahead of the conference. So how has that been going?
IAJ: They've been working very hard, the team. There's been a lot of stray dogs been impounded and kept, a lot of owners have come and claimed them. Some owners have disowned these dogs so the team have encouraged public who want one of these puppies or one of these dogs to come and take them away. The purpose is to take away the stray dogs from our streets, and the surrounding accommodation. Our guests may want to wander around and see the sights a little bit, observe the town. They're doing a very decent job at the moment.
To embed this content on your own webpage, cut and paste the following:
See terms of use.