APAI – The ease with which dangerous prisoners can escape from jail in Samoa has caused a public outcry.

Two escaped prisoners, Lauititi Tualima and Faigame Vaitoelau, who had been on the run since last weekend were re-captured by police on Thursday.

Both fugitives were caught sleeping in an abandoned house after a tip-off from a member of the public.

Tualima’s escape has especially attracted criticism of the government, especially in the way it secures prisoners.

Tualima was recently returned to jail with a longer sentence after he managed to tie up a man and raped his wife at a local tourism accommodation.

Authorities are yet to comment on how the prisoners were able to escape.

Outspoken businesswoman, Moe Lei Sam, said the government should make this issue their priority.

“Our women and young girls are not safe out there, because rapists and murderers are walking around freely when they should be in jail,” she said. “Where is the government? What are they doing?”

Lei Sam said it is unfair to blame the prison authority and the police for what is happening.

“Everyone has a role to play but ultimately it has to be the government that takes the lead. If things are a mess at the prison, it reflects badly on the government. It means the government is not functioning well. At the end of the day, the buck stops with them.”

Another concerned member of the public wrote to the Samoa Observer to express his concerns.

“This prisoner Tualima has escaped again – last Saturday in fact and is currently on the loose again. How safe should the women of Samoa feel at this time?”

“Given the activities of the Samoa Victim Support Group and the UNDP regarding domestic violence and treatment of women generally, surely this issue needs to be taken up with the police and the attorney general.”

The concerns were referred to the Attorney General, Aumua Ming Leung Wai.

In an email response to the Samoa Observer, he said his office would “look into it’.

Their capture of the fugitives has been confirmed by Acting Police Commissioner Afamasaga Michael So‘onalole.

According to Afamasaga, the two prisoners have been charged with escaping from prison and could face additional charges when police have finished their investigation.

Afamasaga thanked members of the public for their continuous support, as the recapture would not have been possible without them.

Meanwhile, another prisoner has escaped from Tafaigata prison, fleeing the same day two other prisoners were recaptured after being on the run for almost a week. - PNC

Climate agreement ‘painfully slow’

PARIS – Tuvalu’s prime minister, Enele Sopoaga, says negotiations in Paris for a new climate change agreement are painfully slow. Sopoaga says there is no transparency, there are a lot of twist and turns and the process is an injustice.

He has accused the United States and the European Union of employing delaying tactics and labelled as unfortunate the decision not to invite Tuvalu to a meeting with President Barack Obama two days ago.

Sopoaga says Tuvalu does not want a declaration of intent but a legally binding agreement out of COP21 in Paris. He has also lashed out at the bureaucracy surrounding access to global climate change adaptation funding.

Sopoaga says the principle that polluters pay should be anchored in the Paris Declaration, and that new and adequate finance should be made available.

He has described as shameful the current practice of getting vulnerable nations like Tuvalu pay for their own climate change adaptation projects.

Sopoaga says bigger and wealthier nations should also stop the injustice of using ODA money to fund climate change adaptation work in countries that are vulnerable to climate change impacts.

Meanwhile, the Pacific Ocean commissioner says world leaders must limit warming to less than 1.5 degrees.

The commissioner, Dame Meg Taylor, who also heads the secretariat of the Pacific Islands Forum, says the world leaders meeting on climate change in Paris must set ambitious targets and limit global warming to below 1.5 degrees celsius.

She says the ocean, climate and weather are all linked with the impacts of climate change on the Pacific already being felt by many.

Dame Meg says sea level rise, storm surges, ocean acidification, coral bleaching and cyclones are increasing in intensity and frequency.

The commissioner says the people of the Pacific will continue to work together to protect the ocean, their lives and their livelihoods.

- RNZI