Where has the tsunami relief money gone?
At the end of September, a year after a tsunami killed 143 people in Samoa, Campbell Live revisited the country to ask that very question.
In New Zealand, the Government would be compelled to answer it – and would do so as a matter of course.
But the Samoan government was outraged by it and embarked on a sustained campaign against Campbell Live’s story – including a formal BSA complaint.
Yes, there are new roads and electricity is back to the region. The Samoan government says it has spent $68.74 million Tala so far, but many tsunami victims feel deserted by their government and wonder why so little of the money has made its way back to them.
Documents obtained by Campbell Live suggest many millions more dollars have been received than have been spent around the coastline.
So when the Samoan Prime Minister accepted Campbell Live’s invitation to explain where the money has gone, John Campbell flew to Samoa to talk to him.
And to ask him the questions his people seem unable to answer.