The Samoa Government has been asked to bail out some tourism properties which are “financially distressed” to the tune of $ST20 million.
The Samoa Observer newspaper reports that Minister of Tourism, Salā Fata Pinati, also urged government to ask all financial institutions to hold off on “all legal actions” against these properties until a solution is worked out.
The minister did not name any of the properties he was asking financial relief for.
Earlier this week the Development Bank of Samoa published notifications of the Orator Hotel and Moanalisa Hotel being sold at auction later this month.
This comes at a time when government is under scrutiny over multi million tālā loans to established hotels like Aggie’s Resort & Spa and the Taumeasina Island Resort, all under overseas ownership.
The minister wrote to the Prime Minister asking that 4% of tourism earnings for 2018 be allocated to meet this request.
“This will allow the operators the opportunity to trade back into profitability, especially with the promising outlook for the sector over the next five years,” wrote the Minister.
Cabinet has yet to discuss the request.
