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Author: Raj Keresoma
Apia, Samoa – July 22, 2024 – The legal issues between the former power utility board and regulator Lematua Gisa Fuatai Purcell have yet to be settled.
After being called back for mediation last week, the two sides have yet to reach a settlement.
The former EPC Commission filed a lawsuit for defamation against the regulator (first defendant) and the Samoa Observer newspaper (second defendant).
background
15thday In December 2022, the regulator wrote to the Minister of Communications, Information and Technology, Toelupe Poumulinuku Onesemo, informing him of the illegal actions taken by the then EPC board and the previous cabinet.
In the same letter, she recommended “reviewing and replacing the chairman and board of EPC. We need to respect Electricity Act 2010 The Government and the people are keen to ensure that the cost of living is affordable for the people of SamoaThere is no need to ignore the law and break the law.”
Parts of the regulator’s letter were published by the Samoa Observer, which has since become a party to the proceedings.
In April 2023, then-EPC board chairman Pepe Christian Fruean demanded an apology from the regulator, but it did not.
The legal dispute between the two parties began in November 2023 with a motion to dismiss filed by the regulator’s lawyer, Leota Tima Leavai, who argued that the regulator’s inclusion of the defamation lawsuit was unjustified.
In April 2024, the court denied the motion to dismiss, and the case proceeded to a full trial.
The case was remanded last Wednesday, but the parties did not hold a hearing and instead went to mediation.
Outside court, lawyer Leota Tima Leavai told media that “no settlement has been reached”.
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