The Samoa government has tabled in Parliament a bill for the Ministry of Forest, which is currently under the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, to be a separate ministry.
The Acting Prime Minister, Misa Telefoni, told parliament the new ministry will have its own minister, chief executive and staff.
Misa says the newly proposed ministry would have more power to set legislations to protect forests from business ventures in the future.
Parliament is now adjourned to January the 24th, the last session of the current five-year parliamentary term before it's dissolved for next March's general election.
