31 Aug 2006

Samoa Observer tightens security after suspected sabotage

3:09 pm on 31 August 2006

The Samoa Observer newspaper has imposed a 24-hour security watch after an apparent attempt to tamper with its printing press.

Reports say an air hose vital to the printing press was cut clean with a sharp object in the early hours of Sunday.

In addition, the rolls to the press were tampered with in what the newspaper owners believe was an attempt to cause them to mis-time.

A shaft in the press was reportedly also unbolted.

The publisher, Muliaga Jean Ash Malifa, says she believes all the signs point to a deliberate attempt to sabotage the newspaper's operations.

The Observer plant was burned to the ground in a mysterious fire in the 1990's.