Prime Minister La’aulialemalietoa Leuatea Schmidt has defended the cabinet’s approval of almost $1 million in payments to Bluewave Wireless Limited's bills, blaming Digicel and Bluesky for cutting off the company’s network and saying the government had owed Bluewave for years.
The issue was raised in Parliament by Faleata No. 3 MP Lealailepule Rimoni Aiafi, who questioned why the payment was being made from the Ministry of Education and Culture budget. The cabinet had approved the payment of $988,737.90 to Bluewave from the Ministry of Education and Culture budget for works under the School Connectivity 2024/2025 project.
Lealailepule said the matter had previously been questioned in the budget committee because concerns were raised over why the company had not been paid and whether the work had been properly carried out or completed.
In response, the Prime Minister said the issue was not new and that the government owed the company for services provided in previous years, despite the company's $2 million project failure.
He said Bluewave had provided internet services through satellite and wireless infrastructure, but the company’s operations were later affected when other telecommunications companies moved into the same space. The Prime Minister blamed Digicel and Bluesky, saying they pushed their own services and affected Bluewave’s lines.
