Representatives of tuna giant Bumble Bee Foods were in Samoa recently for talks regarding the establishment of a loin processing plant in the independent state.

This was reluctantly confirmed by Prime Minister Tuilaepa Lupesoliai Dr. Sailele Malielegaoi in his weekly radio program aired on government radio 2AP on Thursday.

“I am somewhat reluctant to elaborate on this issue because it is not a new issue and nothing has materialized from previous talks with other delegations who visited our shores,” Tuilaepa said. “How many times have delegations from StarKist and Van Camp visited in past years and enthusiastically expressed their plans to establish fish processing plants here? Nothing at all has materialized from all those meetings!”

However, the prime minister did confirm that representatives from Bumble Bee Foods have visited him twice this month and a third meeting is scheduled for May on the possible establishment of a fish processing plant in Samoa where fish can be processed before transporting them to American Samoa where they will be canned at the canneries in the Territory.

Tuilaepa revealed that if everything goes according to plan, an agreement will be signed in July for the establishment of a fish processing plant, and by January 2016 operations should be underway.

However, he explained that the proposed facility will not be a cannery but a fish processing plant or loin operation where fish will be cleaned and prepared for the eventual canning process in American Samoa.

He said that the establishment of a fish processing plant rather than a cannery is the more logical choice for Samoa because of the stringent federal policies and criteria regarding imports.

“So after the fish are processed here in Samoa, it will be taken to American Samoa which does not have to comply with all the red tape for the canning process and exported to markets in the mainland,” Tuilaepa reasoned. “This will be a win win situation for us because not only will there be jobs for our people, but also our local fishing boats will have another market for their catches.”

He also revealed that the proposed fish processing plant will be established at Matautu-tai near the wharf. He said that the visiting Bumble Bee Foods delegation had already visited the site and that they have informed him that it is the ideal site for their proposed plant.

Tuilaepa said that fishing boats will then dump their catches at the Matautu-tai plant for processing.

He also pointed out that the proposed operation may be the answer if the Yazaki Plant at Vaitele is forced to close down after the Ford and Toyota manufacturing plants in Australia eventually pack up and leave, and the more than a thousand employees at the Yazaki Plant will be left without jobs.

“More than a thousand jobs will be created if this proposed fish processing plant eventuates,’ the prime minister said. “Not only that, the fishing boats which will be unloading their catches here will no doubt need repairs and they can be dry-docked at our facilities at Satitoa. Also, government has identified the need for a bigger international wharf and plans are already in the pipeline for the building of a bigger international wharf at Vaiusu Bay. So, the fish processing plant at Matautu-tai can expand when Ports Authority operations shift to Vaiusu.

“So you see, the future is looking bright if this Bumble Bee fish processing operation does eventuate. Right now, government has given its full support and we are going out of our way providing them with everything they need to make this operation a reality. We just have to wait and see what happens.”