NEWSROOM: 09 March - 22 March 2008

Faleomavaega receives letters from chairman's
22 March 2008 - Source: Press Release

Congressman Faleomavaega announced today that he has written to Governor Togiola Tulafono, and to President Lolo Moliga and Speaker Savali Ale and Members of the Fono to share with them the two letters he received, one from Chairman George Miller, House Committee on Education and Labor, and a separate letter co-authored by Chairman Miller and Chairman Edward Ted Kennedy, Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, to Secretary Elaine Chao of the Department of Labor.

“In our meeting with top staffers of both Chairman Miller and Chairman Kennedy, there was consensus that there was not enough specific data and information in the Department of Labor report to address the serious issues whether another increase on wages would negatively impact the standard of living and the cost of living of our workers, especially those who do not work for the local government,” Faleomavaega said.

“No other leaders in Congress know more about the rights of working men and women throughout the United States and its territories than Chairman Miller and Chairman Kennedy,” added Faleomavaega.

“Senators Jeff Bingaman, Daniel Inouye, Daniel Akaka and I have written a joint letter to Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Robert Byrd to amend the current law when it comes up on the Appropriations Supplemental bill in May.”

“Essentially, I’ve tried to work out a compromise language so that at least for the next two years we will get DOL to do a more comprehensive review of the economies of both territories. Until we know for sure, it is very difficult to determine if another increase in wages of 50-cents is commensurate with the economies of American Samoa and the CNMI,” Faleomavaega said.

“We are continuing our meetings with Chairman Miller’s staff on this important issue, and I suggest our local leaders, business leaders and our community review carefully the letter from Chairman Miller and Chairman Kennedy for further discussion. As indicated in their letters, the bottom line is we need more specific data and information before we put a hold on another 50-cent increase on our minimum wage,” Faleomavaega concluded.
 

Study Says American Samoa Has Qualified Workforce
20 March 2008 - Source: Pacific Magazine

A University of Hawai’i (UH) study has concluded that a qualified workforce is available in American Samoa to fill jobs created by new ventures such as call centers. And the UH study says this workforce could be supplemented with workers from neighboring Samoa and the Samoan community in Hawai’i.

Gov. Togiola T.A. Tulafono hopes to have American Samoa link up to the undersea fiber optic cable in early 2009 and a U.S. company is looking to set up call centers in Pago Pago once that fiber cable is in place.

A study by UH’s Pacific Business Center Program (PBCP) found that the qualified available labor pool in American Samoa “demonstrated the necessary analytic and
verbal skills to satisfy the requirements of new ventures in the knowledge industry. This included knowledge of computer usage, elementary mathematics skills such as elementary trigonometry, and, importantly, adequate command of written and spoken English language.”

The team visited American Samoa and Samoa last summer and conducted paper and pencil surveys in randomly selected villages, focus group discussions and interviewed chiefs and opinion leaders. A random telephone survey in American Samoa and of Samoan households in Hawaii was also undertaken.

The PBCP team says a new venture in the knowledge industry, such as a call center,
could find, at prevailing wage rates, at least 1,500 to approximately 2,000 qualified available workers currently residing in the Territory.

In addition, approximately another 6,000 might be lured from Samoa and approximately 1,700 might be lured from Hawaii, “but this process will likely be replete with complications and costs associated with that relocation, born both by the venture and the
current residents of American Samoa.”

It also suggests that by offering wages higher than in the government sector, it could find even more workers, “but (that) this is likely to result in the serious depletion of the
government workforce, with the best and brightest being the first to leave.”

A third alternative, suggested a number of times by chiefs and opinion leaders in both American Samoa and Samoa, involves a dual organizational design with the central venture and management located in American Samoa.

“In addition, the organizational design will also embrace a sister entity in Samoa, with a middle level of management reporting to a central center in American Samoa,” the team noted. The UH study says a Samoa based center could find about 6,000 people willing to work at “very favorable wages.”
 

Scientology faces opposition in American Samoa
18 March 2008 - Source: Radio New Zealand International

Three Assembly of God ministers in American Samoa have staged a protest to discourage people from taking part in Scientology meetings.

They displayed placards opposing the community meetings which began last Friday.

Pastor Sauni Tuitoelau of the Assembly of God Church in Nuuuli says he organised the demonstration because he does not want people to fall for the Scientology members’ tactics.

He said the organisation is trying to get its foot into the territory by offering disaster training and other teachings when its real intentions are to promote its beliefs.

Pastor Tuitoelau said he was particularly concerned about the influence the Scientology members would have on young people.

Matthew Andrews, the director of the Scientology South Pacific Goodwill tour, said he had wanted to talk to one of the ministers to try to find out what they know about Scientology, but was brushed aside.
 

Tourism Bureau gets Fono backing
16 March 2008 - Source: Pacific Magazine

Gov. Togiola Tulafono is expected to sign into law soon legislation that would establish
an American Samoa Visitor’s Bureau as a semi-autonomous agency of the American Samoa Government (ASG). The Tourism Office currently is a division of the Department of Commerce.

An administration bill to establish the new agency was submitted to the Fono in late January. The House quickly approved the measure, but Senate action was delayed due to concerns about how the agency would be funded.

But the Senate never held hearings on the matter, and lawmakers yesterday moved the visitor’s bureau bill to expedited passage. According to the bill, the governor will provide visitor’s bureau with funding. Unspent funds that were allocated to the Tourism Office at the time the office is dissolved will be transferred to the new agency. This will not include money specifically designated for salaries for Tourism Office employees who will remain with the Department of Commerce.

The American Samoa Chamber of Chamber, which helped draft the legislation last year, said it was pleased with Fono approval.

“It’s a very important bill for American Samoa and we can now move forward with more focus on tourism development,” said Chamber President David Robinson.

“We have been putting together a lot of the legwork for this visitor’s bureau legislation assuming that the bill is approved by the Fono and we are very thankful to the honorable members of both houses for acting quickly on this measure,” said Robinson in an interview yesterday.

The bill will establish a tourism bureau as a separate entity under the government. It will be the lead agency to promote tourism in American Samoa. Tourism in recent years has received little government support, though a number of local business executives have developed high-quality hotels and bed-and-breakfast lodging.

The bill says the new agency would facilitate “the development of a competitive and profitable tourism industry, through the creation of tourism sensitive policies, and regulating tourism as it impacts Samoan culture and way of life.”

The bureau will be governed by a seven-member board (from both public and private sector) nominated by the governor and confirmed by the Fono. Robinson said the
Chamber has some names that will be given to the governor for consideration. The territorial government will be represented on the board by the Department of Commerce, Office of Samoan Affairs and the U.S. National Park of American Samoa.

The visitor’s bureau will be headed by an executive director appointed by the board. The Chamber’s Robinson said the group has put together a job description for the position, and it will be advertised both locally and off-island.

“The bureau will be run by a competent and experience executive director,” he said. “We see this bureau as a start up of drawing up a new strategy for the development of tourism with a lot of progress to be made through the board of directors.

“We see this as a real opportunity to move forward in terms of an educational program for villages so they fully understand the important of tourism to our economy especially to the villages themselves,” he said.

There has been called in the visitors industry for the government, or Tourism Office, to conduct an educational program, or a tourism awareness program in the villages, because of complaints received by the industry about certain villages.

“The bureau can go out to the villages to encourage tourism participation. In return they too can benefit. For example, if a cruise ship arrives, or a large group of visitors arrives and wants to look at daily life, that scenery can be provided in real village,” said Robinson.

Lt. Gov. Ipulasi A. Sunia, who submitted the bill to the Fono, had said that this measure provides the private sector a more active role in the marketing and preparation of American Samoa as a legitimate tourist destination not only in the region, but on a global
level as well.”

He said tourism is everyone’s business, and therefore it cannot be placed in the hands of just a few. “As history has proven over and over, the development of tourism will have many effects on a local population and culture. These effects span the spectrum which is why we must take extra care to assure that it does not change us as a people,” he said.

Development Bank Applauds Move To Increase Funding
14 March 2008 - Source: Pacific Magazine

Development Bank of American Samoa (DBAS) president Utu Abe Malae has applaud a Senate bill that would allocate $1 million annually to assist DBAS promote private enterprise.

The bill, sponsored by Senate President Lolo M. Moliga, was introduced in the Senate on Monday and is assigned to the Senate Economic Development Committee for review. Utu says DBAS “fully supports this bill.”

“The number one problem at the bank today is the shortage of capital—and this proposed legislation, if passed, will go a long ways to solve that problem.”

The Senate measure would establish the Economic Development Fund to provide a source of capital to assist the bank in meeting its purpose to promote private enterprise, develop the economy and benefit the public with the initial funding of $1 million.

The bill says that the $1 million comes from the current Income Tax Reserve Account law, which shall continue to provide capital for the fund in the amount of $1 million each fiscal year.

“All income from the fund shall be credited to the....Fund and shall be available for re-investment,” the bill says.

Lolo and other Senators have long called for the Togiola Administration to come up with funding to assist DBAS help boost the private sector through various loan opportunities.

Utu says there is a challenged faced by the bank if this proposal is enacted into law and funding is appropriated. “The challenge will be for the bank to make ‘good loans’,” he said.

According to the bank president, DBAS has too many bad loans, for example, high risk business loans and ‘deliberately’ bad loans.

“Although we are a development bank, it shouldn't be our destiny to be the maker of loans that would cause our own demise,” he said.

A senior government official told Pacific Magazine on Tuesday that the Fono should thoroughly review the funding source to ensure there is enough money every fiscal year to provide the need $1 million.

It’s unclear at this point if the Togiola Administration is supportive of this measure.
 

American Samoan Businesses Oppose Custom Inspection Changes
12 March 2008 - Source: Pacific Magazine

The American Samoa Chamber of Commerce and local importers have opposed the territorial government’s plans to centralize at the main dock the inspection of all incoming containers of goods and products.

The Chamber has suggested that the government seek federal funding to set up large X-Ray machine to monitor the movement of containers at the dock.

Government Treasurer, Gaea Pelefoti Failautusi said centralizing container inspection was due to be implemented tomorrow. But following a meeting last week with Acting Gov. Ipulasi Aitofele Sunia, the new policy has been put on hold until after a March 18th test run in which government officials and the private sector will be present.

Last week’s meeting included representatives from shipping companies, the canneries, importers and the Chamber of Commerce, who all voiced their opposition towards this scheme.

During his confirmation hearing last month, Gaea told senators he plans to “centralize” the inspection of containers at the dock. Inspections will no longer take place outside of government property. Customs in past years have allowed containers to be checked and inspected at the importer’s place of business.

Chamber president David Robinson said the proposed plan is not supported by Port Administration, Customs office, the shipping companies, the stevedores, the canneries and certainly not by most of the larger importers “as we all know what a costly disaster it is going to be.”

In a letter to the Governor’s Office, Robinson says when ships arrive from the U.S. west coast, they sometimes bring between 200-220 containers to be off loaded. He writes that it can take up to two hours to unload one 20 ft. container depending on the cargo and the same time to repack it. “What is the system for deciding the order in which containers are inspected? Who is going to unpack and repack the containers? If it is Customs they will charge and if it is the importers they will pass the additional cost on to consumers,” he wrote. “The stevedores will have to charge for all the additional handling of the containers on the wharf and this cost will be passed on to consumers.”

He said Port Administration charges importers a storage charge if the containers are not cleared after four working days from arrival and if this charge is not waived it will also be passed on to consumers. Robinson suggests random checks be carried out on containers belonging to importers suspected for not declaring their goods correctly and that they be fined if caught out.

He also suggested that the local government ask the U.S. government for a grant to buy a large X-RAY machine to be located at the port so that every container loaded onto a truck passes through. Robinson said this system operates worldwide and is very effective.
 

ASCC Hosts Annual Retreat Visit by ACCJC
10 March 2008 - Source: ASCC Press Release

A malaga-sized group of almost 40 commissioners and staff from the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges (ACCJC), a division of the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC), along with their spouses, visited the Territory last week not to conduct an accreditation review, but to hold their annual retreat. The administration, faculty, staff and students of the American Samoa Community College (ASCC) served as the main host for the ACCJC during their visit, which their Chairperson Dr. E. Jan Kehoe summarized as “an enriching and valuable experience for the Commission”.

Held over the course of four days, the retreat gave the ACCJC the opportunity to conduct its own meetings and in-house business, as well as experience the culture, sites, and hospitality of American Samoa, with ASCC staff and students guiding them. The majority of the ACCJC, many of them making their first-ever visit to a Pacific island, arrived on the Sunday flight, and the Commission started its official agenda early the next morning with an initial meeting to familiarize them with systems of education in the American Pacific in general as well as American Samoa in particular. During this session, Director Okenaisa Fauolo and staff members from the ASCC Samoan Studies Institute (SSI) gave a presentation on the challenges faced by educator in the Territory as they try to balance the need to preserve a traditional culture with the need to prepare students for the realities of the outside world. ASCC President Dr. Seth Galea’i and other college officials also joined the proceedings to welcome the commissioners.

Following the morning session, the ACCJC took the afternoon off and boarded aiga buses for a scenic drive along Tutuila’s west side, with SSI staff members Dr. David Addison and Tafito Aitaoto on hand to narrate the tour. The tour concluded with a brief rest stop at the falesamoa at ASCC, during which many of the commissioners got their first taste of local delights such as fausi and ice cold niu. The rest stop also served as an informal introduction to the ASCC campus, where the Commission would return the following afternoon for a full guided tour.

The Commission followed a similar schedule on Tuesday, with official matters tended to during the morning, followed by an excursion after lunch. For their mid-afternoon tour of ASCC, the ACCJC walked the entire length of the school grounds, taking in the Nursing and Teacher Education facilities of upper campus and proceeding to the Library, computer labs, and Video Teleconferencing room in the main campus area. Along the way, most commissioners made it a point to stop and speak with students, who in turn appeared happy to answer questions about themselves and their experiences at the College.

At the recently opened Education and Administration Facility, the commissioners enjoyed a specially-prepared “sneak preview” of scenes from the College’s forthcoming production of the musical play “Aida”. After witnessing drama students perform a brief but spirited run-through of several musical numbers, more than one ACCJC member expressed feeling “awestruck” by students’ level of talent. The Commission wound up their campus tour at CNR/Land Grant, where Director Tapaau Dr. Daniel Aga and his staff familiarized the visitors with the division’s facilities and numerous ongoing projects before treating them to refreshments and a presentation of gifts. The ACCJC actually reciprocated with a gift of its own by presenting a copy of the medical text “Grey’s Anatomy” to Dean of Academic Affairs Dr. Irene Helsham.

On Wednesday evening, Board of Higher Education chairman Uta Dr. Laloulu Tagoilelagi, President Dr. Seth Galea’i and other members of the ASCC administration joined the ACCJC for a social gathering at Le Moana o Sina Lodge in Fogagogo. As the commissioners and the ASCC administrators enjoyed a chance to visit informally, the staff and students of the SSI once again contributed by providing entertainment, an ava ceremony, and another ceremonial presentation of gifts. While some of the ACCJC departed from the Territory on the next night’s flight, others took the opportunity to spend the weekend in the Independent State of Samoa before returning home on Sunday.

In an email this week from the mainland, ACCJC Chair Dr. E. Jan Kehoe talked about the Commission’s overall impressions from their visit. “First, we express our heartfelt gratitude for the hospitality and welcome received in American Samoa,” she wrote. “We accomplished two very important purposes by our having our retreat there. First, we have a deeper understanding of the unique cultural context of ASCC as it represents our accredited Pacific Island membership, as well as the opportunities and challenges they face. Second, we now have a fuller conception of the elements that unite all accredited institutions in providing quality higher education to students in all the communities served in our region. It has clearly been an enriching and valuable experience for the Commission as it goes forward in its work.”

Added Garman “Jack” Pond, ACCJC Vice President of Team Operations and Communication, also via email, “The spirit and enthusiasm of the students of ASCC and the people of your beautiful island has touched every member of the Commission during this retreat. As professional educators, the students and communities we serve will always remain the focus of all that we do. Whenever we have the opportunity to reinforce our commitment to those we serve, we come away with renewed vitality for our work. The exposure to the people and culture of Samoa has been an enriching experience for us all.”

The ACCJC will return to American Samoa for its official accreditation review of ASCC later this year

Photo Captions -

1: ASCC President Dr. Seth Galea'i confers with Commissioner Dr. Ann Morey (left) and Chair Dr. E. Jan Kehoe (right) of the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges during their visit to the Territory last week to hold their annual retreat.

2: Commissioner Steve Bruckman of the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges chats with an ASCC student during a tour of the campus by the ACCJC as part of their annual retreat in American Samoa last week.

3: ASCC Samoan Studies Institute Director Keseta Okenaisa Fauolo confers with Commissioners Steve Bruckman (left) and Lurelean Gains (right) of the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges during their annual retreat in American Samoa last week.
 

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