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 Eighty one chiefs and orators of Falealupo have defended Nafanua Paul Cox against what they see as attacks on his integrity.
“He is a gentleman who has been very useful to Falealupo,” they say in a letter to the Sunday Samoan. “He’s loving, helpful and honest in agreements made with Falealupo.”
The matai say Dr. Paul Cox was bestowed the high ranking title of Nafanua by Falealupo in 1988 and they treasure their matai.
The criticisms of Nafanua, made in letters to the editor, are “contemptuous,” they say.
The criticisms arise from the taking of samples of the mamala plant from Falealupo by Nafanua, a botanist, to the United States.
There the plant was found to have an ingredient that could potentially treat HIV/Aids.
Synthetic copies of the ingredient have been made.
Doubts were expressed by critics as to the benefits to the village and Samoa as promised by agreements already made since the discovery, which attracted publicity worldwide.
The 81 matai of Falealupo list four critics of Nafanua in their letter and their response to them.
One is Arona Palamo, an overseas Samoan botanist.
The Falealupo matai say Mr Palamo in letters has called Nafanua a con artist, “liar,” attention seeker, unloving and a money seeker.
In their letter the matai ask Mr Palamo: “If you are a Falealupo-born person, why didn’t you ask the Alii and Faipule living in the village then you would
have understood?”
The matai advices Mr Palamo to stop his letters to the newspaper and behave properly for
sake of “all of us.”
They say of another critic Pua’aefu S. S: “Pua’aefu, who only arrived in Falealupo in 2002 and his parents and family, do not know that the title Nafanua was bestowed on Paul Cox in 1988 in Falealupo.”
They say after Pua’aefu was bestowed his matai title the critic returned to Apia where he lives without doing any work for Falealupo up to this day.
The only thing he has done is to cause disruption to the matai of the village, especially Solia Papu, the matai allege. They call Pua’aefu a know-all.
All matai titles bestowed by his family have been declared invalid, they say.
They refer to suspicions and questions Pua’aefu has over the handling of village finances to which he has no right.
They say his statements made via the internet as a representative of Falealupo should be ignored.
The Falealupo matai also criticise an American Dr David Martin who heads an organisation specialising in intellectual property.
Dr Martin cast doubt on Falealupo getting any money from the mamala because of the types of agreements signed.
It is true their village has not received any money from the mamala, the matai say.
But Nafanua has donated over a million Tala worth of assistance to their village for school buildings, hospital, water tanks and other “blessings.”
They say Nafanua’s plans will benefit Samoa and the world “especially this village which protects Nafanua Paul Cox.”
The matai also criticise a fellow matai of their village Aumua Clark Peteru, a lawyer, who they say has also been critical of Nafanua.
Nafanua conducted research in Falealupo with the permission of the matai of the village through a signed agreement, they say.
“This is why we say stop bad mouthing the efforts of Nafanua Paul Cox, who is a Palagi gentleman who has made a great contribution to Falealupo and a
gentleman who loves Falealupo and Samoa.
“There has been no money from the mamala because research has not been completed.” Back
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