Fish processor,

StarKist confirms plans for plan! in Asau, Samoa

StarKist Samoa, will set up a plant in Asau, Savai’i, to supplement its cannery

operations at Satala very soon, according to StarKist Samoa general manager Phil Thirkell.

This, he said, will take place immediately after negotiations - now underway with the Samoan government and Asau Village - are successful.

“Things so far have been encouraging, and we hope to close off a land acquisition deal soon with the Asau Council,” he said.

The desired land is at the Asau harbor area and the proposed fish processings are meant to support the Satala plant operation.

“The plan is to utilise the resources there to support the local StarKist operation,” he continued.

The project plans are two-fold: the first stage involves the processing of albacore and having them frozen and shipped to the Satala plant for canning and export. This

division will employ more than 100 people.

The second stage involves a fish loining process where they will also be shipped frozen to the Satala plant for preparation for export. This more-involved process is expected to eventually employ more than

1,600 people.

Thirkell pointed out that establishing the two operations may take years but they both will increase the tonnage of fish to be processed at the Satala cannery.

Thirkell said it was too early to discuss details including wage structures for the Savai’i plant, the effect on the current Satala Plant’s more than 3,000 employees, the purse seiner fleet supplying the Asau operation and other aspects.

But Thirkell said, the Asau operation would be of help to the Samoan albacore fishermen who have been selling to the local canneries for the last five years,

earning millions in foreign exchange for the Samoan Government.

“I would like to invite them to sell to us at Asau when

things are finalised,” he concluded.

Asau is a coastal village in the north western part of Savai’i. It has a harbor man made in the 1960 s to enable sea transportation of lumber that was milled by a US company in the virgin forests of the area.

The company has changed hands, and the lumber operations there continue to use the port up to now. The port has since become known also for the commercial operations that have naturally sprung up in the area.

Star Kist Samoa is the largest private employer in the territory, with more than 3,000 employees. Other than employment and community service projects, it has provided corporate tax advance payments regularly in recent years at government’s request, to help out with government cash

flow problems. (Samoa News) ■