21 Jan 2015

Power restored in Samoa after village protest

11:55 am on 21 January 2015

Samoa's Ta'elefaga power station has returned to service after angry villagers had earlier turned it off.

Village matais had decided to turn off the hydropower station at Ta'elefaga Fagaloa on Monday.

The move came as a protest at the bad odour from the stream which supplies the government owned Electric Power Corporation for generating electricity.

The Acting General Manager of EPC and members of the board met village leaders to resolve the matter but he did not give further information about the negotiations.

The EPC says it could not yet provide a figure on the number of businesses and households affected by the shut down.

In 2010 the village enlisted the aid of community groups to raise the profile of their environmental concerns about the plant.