Sāmoa hospital land deal raises questions over family and government links

Questions are being raised over who is behind a new private hospital planned for Savai‘i after company records revealed links between its shareholders and people involved in government.

Pasifika Specialist Healthcare Samoa (PSHS) Limited was incorporated on 29 May, with Fiji businessman Parvish Nikesh Kumar holding 40 per cent and Filisuaina Joy Alofipo, Faaofonuu Tumanuvao Evile Falefatu and Stephen Leota each holding 20 per cent.

Kumar and Tumanuvao are also listed as directors.

A public social media account under the name Joy Ina Alofipo identifies Sāmoa’s Health Minister, Va’aaoao Salumalo Alofipo, as her father.

PMN News has asked Va’aaoao to confirm whether Filisuaina Joy Alofipo, named in the company records, is his daughter.

Kumar said he knew Alofipo from New Zealand and described her as a friend.

Fiji businessman Parvish Nikesh Kumar owns 40 per cent of Pasifika Specialist Healthcare Samoa and is one of the company’s two directors. Photo/Pacific Specialist Healthcare

“I think a woman should be valued for who she is, what she has achieved and not who her father, brother or spouse is,” he said.

Kumar said Tumanuvao and Leota were longstanding friends and that he had partnered with people he knew and trusted in Sāmoa.

The company is now moving ahead with plans for a private hospital after Cabinet approved a 20-year lease of 10 acres of government land at Salelologa on 5 September.

Samoa Airport Authority General Manager Faaofonuu Tumanuvao Evile Falefatu is a 20 per cent shareholder and director of the hospital company and says he has been closely involved in the project from its early stages. Photo/Government of Samoa

The government says the project will generate revenue through the lease and improve access to healthcare in Savai‘i.

But the timing and links around the proposal raise questions about how the project moved through government.

Kumar said he had been pursuing plans for a Sāmoa hospital for several years and earlier this year presented the proposal to about 17 senior Ministry of Health staff, including Va’aaoao.

Kumar said ministry officials then wanted to visit his Pacific Specialist Healthcare operations in Fiji.

On 3 March, Va’aaoao led an official health delegation to Kumar’s facilities in Suva and Nadi.

The Sāmoa High Commission described the visit, on social media, as “high-level consultations” focused on the potential transfer and advanced surgical management of patients from Sāmoa.

Health Minister Va’aaoao Salumalo Alofipo (third from right) and Ministry chief executive June Scanlan-Lui (first from left) were part of a Sāmoa delegation that visited Pacific Specialist Healthcare facilities in Fiji in March. Photo/Sāmoa High Commission in Fiji

Kumar said the delegation was there to verify what he had presented to Ministry officials.

“It was more akin to an audit but in this case an audit of what we claimed in Samoa,” he said.

PSHS was incorporated less than three months after that visit.

It remains unclear when Va’aaoao became aware of Joy Alofipo’s involvement in the company or how any potential conflict was managed as the proposal progressed.

PMN News has asked Va’aaoao whether he declared any relationship to the Prime Minister, whether he took part in Cabinet consideration of the land lease and how any family relationship was managed.

PMN News has found no evidence that Va’aaoao has a financial interest in PSHS.

Health Minister Va’aaoao Salumalo Alofipo (R) with Prime Minister Laaulialemalietoa Leuatea Polataivao Schmidt (L). Cabinet rules require ministers to avoid actual or apparent conflicts between their public duties and private interests.

Sāmoa’s Cabinet rules require ministers to manage potential conflicts between their public duties and private interests, including declaring a potential conflict before Cabinet considers a matter in which they have a direct personal interest.

The Ministry of Health’s role in developing the proposal is also unclear.

June Scanlan-Lui, the Ministry of Health’s chief executive, who joined the March delegation, was asked when the Ministry first became aware of the hospital plans, what role it played and whether it knew about Alofipo’s involvement in the company.

Another question centres on Tumanuvao, who is General Manager of the Samoa Airport Authority as well as a PSHS shareholder and director.

Tumanuvao said he had played an active role representing the project with government authorities.

Asked whether he had disclosed his 20 per cent financial interest and directorship to the Airport Authority board, the Ministry for Public Enterprises or another relevant authority, Tumanuvao said he would discuss the matter with his chairman at a board meeting on 17 September and seek his guidance.

Watch Parvish Nikesh Kumar thank Faaofonuu Tumanuvao Evile Falefatu during his matai title bestowment ceremony. The two are directors of the hospital company, with Kumar describing Tumanuvao as a longstanding friend.

He said the hospital project had been planned before he became General Manager of the Airport Authority and that his current contract ends in December.

Va’aaoao and the Ministry of Health did not respond to PMN News’ questions by the 10 September deadline.

The hospital project is moving forward following Cabinet’s approval of the land lease, while questions remain over how the relationships and interests identified by PMN News were disclosed and managed.