A question of public [?]

Dear Madam, Chris Peteru’s article of November 1997 makes it abundantly clear that all is not well in Samoa’s Public Trust Office

ever since the resignation of former public trustee Anae Tony Pereira who headed the office from 1982-91.

Peteru reported that the latest public trustee, Toleafoa Solomona Toailoa appointed in 1993 and office accountant Mulitalo Penaia have been suspended

pending investigations on charges of mis

appropriating trust funds.

Toleafoa was stood down for down loading SUS 16,000 to his personal account but Mulitalo’s action is unstated.

Peteru rightly suggests that Toleafoa’s action is not without precedent. But his excellent report is tarnished somewhat by concealing the identity of Toleafoa’s pre decessor who was responsible for the mess he inherited and thus perhaps the major source of his behaviour.

Quoting from former Chief Auditor Su’a Rimoni Ah Chong’s 1993-1994 Report (p. 82-84), Toleafoa’s pre-decessor gave $368,871 of trust money to office staff as loans and $50,000 to himself.

Mulitalo’s share was an estimated $34,000 in terms of “allowances”.

Despite the auditor’s report, Mulitalo remained employed until his current sus

pension with Toleafoa. Su’a’s report stated that while Toleafoa’s predecessor divided the funds between himself and his office staff, $3.7 million in mortgage accounts, most of it arrears, were uncollected.

Some mortgage loans and advances from the common fund in arrears were for given by the public trustee or with, in some cases, the minister responsible for the office.

Apart from the anonymous identity of Toleafoa’s predecessor, other points remains.

For example, why was Toleafoa singled out if no action was taken against his pre decessor? Why should Toleafoa be treated differently from his predecessor?

As Su’a observed, are such behaviour explained away in terms of aganu’u ma agaifanua fa’a Samoa and Christian chari ty, of loving one another when keeping other people’s money and forgiving each other when re-investing it for them?

Morgan Tuimaleali’ fano,

P O Box 2377, Government Buildings, Suva.