Finance Under Review In
p. 22 · Read in the full issue
W. Samoa
From Our Own Correspondent APIA, July 1. fTiHE new Legislative Assembly is sitting at present, to vote on the Estimates for the current year. The Estimates reflect the prosperity of Samoa. The surplus is some £189,000 for the year 1947/48. This includes £140,000 from import duties and the balance from ex port duties, postal revenue, etc.
There will be criticism of Government expenditure in the Assembly.
There seems to be inefficiency in the Public Works Department—on roads and on the dam now in course of construc tion for the hydro-electric scheme. Also the education scheme requires a lot of money and is perhaps too elaborate. A new Director of Education has 'arrived recently; he is Mr. R. K. Lambie, who has been in Tonga for the past six years.
Produce prices here are still keeping up, though the cocoa crop this year will be much smaller than that of 1947.