Recent comments

This is just another example of the absolute incompetence of the American Samoa Government. It's quite obvious ASG is having much trouble governing, so why would we think that they are able to run a multi-million dollar corporation such as ASPA, ASTCA, the Port, the Television Station or any other business?

ASG needs to seriously consider selling these entities to the private sector who are more qualified to run businesses. It's time for someone to step up to the plate and do the right thing for the people of American Samoa.

Portland General Electric, which is the largest power and energy provider for the west coast of the United States would be a very good company to come in and run ASPA the way a corporation should be. The government cannot and should not be allowed to run businesses on the island, they can't even manage their own finances! If things continue the way they have been, things will go from bad to worse for American Samoa.

Start selling off government entities such as ASPA, ASTCA, Port Operations, Television Media and anything else that can and should be owned and operated by the private sector, pay off your debts, shrink government and get American Samoa on the right track before it's too late.

Today, the Federal Reserve of the U.S. announced that they will begin pumping 40 billion dollars a month into the economy to boost economic growth in the U.S.. People, don't be fooled, they are only printing new dollars which will result in the devaluing of the U.S. dollar and in turn, raise inflation to unrecoverable levels.

Trust me when I tell you that sooner or later, American Samoa will suffer because of this if ASG doesn't take bold steps to pay off debt and shrink government.

Why am I NOT surprised that the first person to start tooting his horn on this article is Jr. LOL. Whether it's an internal memo or draft report, this does not mean the materials of the "draft report" (turned mysteriously into an internal memo) have no significance. As Mr. Pat Galeai clearly mentioned in his letter to Samoa News, following the first report, the "draft report" was the most current version that included materials needing further review.

Samoa News reported on what was provided to them. Why should they retract NEWS in which they clearly reported as is? I don't understand why you are asking Samoa News to apologize when they provided necessary news to the public.

What I appreciated from Lolo's testimony is his acknowledgement of Governor Togiola and how it was the Governor that pushed for this Program to be brought to our island. Great job Governor. Great job overall to Lolo and DBAS.

I don't understand why Gaoteote was mad over the reporting of all recipients of the 1602 Program. It is a PUBLIC Program and everyone can access the list of recipients from DBAS. Is he mad because so many politicians are recipients? It's no big deal. The program clearly states the recipients of the grants/loans do not have to be low-income individuals. The rentors of the units have to qualify as low-income.

I don't see why you are making a fuss on the report but I bet the reason why you are all out to vindicate Lolo from this issue is because his girlfriend was mentioned in the report. lol. That notion doesn't really align with your religious beliefs, does it?

Whether it was a draft report or internal memo, we can all agree that certain concerns were raised as such, needed to be addressed and warrant further review.

Someone commented earlier on the issue of Late Governor Lutali removing Lolo as Budget Director during his term as Governor. As Lolo's press secretary, can you please inform the public of what happened? Maguia lou aso. Fai se kakou umu i legei weekend.

Signed,
Witnessed a Flying Pink Elephant

Congratulations to Mr. Iosua. It is good to see such an educated and accomplished young Samoan professional serving the people of American Samoa. Unfortunately, Ripley is the Attorney General.

I have read about, Afoa, his accomplishments in our little Samoa Island. He reminds me of Melvin Belli, best Attorney is San Francisco. I would love to see Afoa, turn the American Samoa Government to a much better future, using his attorney skills to raise our Island, jobs, salaries, open doors to our people instead of outside vendors agencies to take our jobs. Bring more jobs and visit every village.

Best to you Afoa & Le'i

I cannot believe this low life vermin. I really wish the fool was in front of me now, so Could grab him by the neck and shake the living SH*T out him and see how he likes it... oh my god how low can you be you pathetic reason for life...

How is giving the 1602 projects to the individuals on the developer list help to stimulate our fragile economy? There are recipients who may have properly adhered with the application process for the grants and deserve to develop their projects; however, many of the names on the list are people with money.

Their money will increase with their wallets bulging with wads of Franklin bills – this would only stimulate their bank accounts, not the economy.

Additionally, the Senators voicing their disappointment with the release of the memo or draft report are just too defensive because their names appear on the developer list. That is the only reason why they are troubled with the release of the memo/draft report. They did not ever think that their names would be made public for these grants! So, instead of asking the right questions, the main concern for the President of the Senate was to clear himself from the 1602 mess!

It is indeed a mess, but the honorable senators made the issue seem worthless of their time; all the while pacifying the role of the former DBAS president.

With $30M for the 1602, more than 132 recipients could have benefited by these projects and help countless families. At least 300 or more families could have built units to rent and help to boost their situations. I believe the intention of the 1602 program was to help many of the economically disadvantaged instead of the economically advantaged.

Ruth are you saying it's the alcohol thats committing crime? Obviously you didn't do your homework. It will not work and will do more harm then good. If you vote for this, my dear Faipule, we will vote you out of office.

First, you JR Faaola, of all people already know Save resigned from the judiciary in October 2011 and that he did not even attend a meeting of your Utu campaign committee until he was resigned; 2) He did not select a running mate until Jan 2012 (several months after he had resigned from the judiciary; 3) and most importantly, you are too late to object with your "nonsense." Poor poor you. You must be losing sleep at night trying to "spew" out your political insights. Trust me...its not worth it to misinform the public at the risk of being perceived a clown. The court will make its interpretation of the law, and that will be the final authority. Please, speak of what is relevant, if you are a "tama-faiumu" trying to be taken seriously as a political analyst.

I'm tired of our people getting the short end of the stick. Where is the help the government says they are "so called" doing??? All talk and no action, I say. The government does only to benefit themselves and not our people. To better the future of our children...not so much myself but for them. I want to be sure that when I'm no longer here, my children will be in a better and fair government than I was in.

Well, it starts here and now...do the right thing. Show our people that the government is changing for the better by following the rules themselves. Be the role model and walk the talk you so highly speak of, show us the change you say you are stating...our people first??? Then you show US FIRST of the righteousness you speak of...Do Right...NOW.

Now that the Save Sandra team has thrown the first stone in their ludicrous petition to remove Lolo, Salu, Taufete’e and Le’i from their gubernatorial races, I am curious as to Save’s actual date of resignation from the High Court, prior to campaigning.

If we go according to Save Sandra’s logic of the law, then wouldn’t Save be in violation of those same statute? Correct me if I’m wrong, but, didn’t Save agree to run for public office, prior to his resignation from the Judicial branch? Perhaps Save did resign in time or not, the point is that the public does not know for a fact if Save is in violation of this same claim that his team is conjuring up during this critical moment in the election.

Perhaps KHJ, Samoa News or any other interested teams and parties can investigate this matter for clarification. I’m not saying that Save did or did not, what I am saying is if Save did agree to run as Governor, right after Utu Abe Malae, announced to his supporters that he will not be running for public office, does this not constitute actual campaigning from that moment on?

As I said, I’m not saying that Save did or did not, but, this issue does peg the question, did he verbally agree to be a candidate, prior to his resignation? We can dissect the law and come up with our own interpretation, but, the question still lingers “did Save verbally agree to be a candidate for the office of Governor, prior to his resignation or not?” I’m merely asking out of curiosity as a taxpayer and voter.

Just for the sake of argument, say Save did verbally agree to run for office, prior to his resignation, then would the public agree that some form of campaigning took place immediately afterwards, thus making Save guilty of the same allegations his team and counsel are accusing other candidates of doing? That would be like the pot calling the kettle black, don’t you think? This is a very serious allegation, especially when the territory is in the midst of a serious political campaign. As a layman, perhaps it’s legal for Save to verbally agree to run for office, then perhaps it may not be. But doesn’t this also peg another question? Where was Judge Save Tuitele or Sandra King-Young when, as they alleged, these violations were being perpetrated by political candidates in the past? I was one of Utu Abe Malae’s strongest supporters in 2008. Not to be disrespectful to a gentleman with an impeccable record of service in the territory and CNMI, but, wouldn’t Utu also be in violation of this same statute, according to the Save Sandra‘s logic? This also goes for former Governor’s Coleman, Lutali and Tauese. Are we to say that their administrations are in violation of these same statutes and that the Election Office should null and void their elections as well? By the same logic, the Election Office should be held accountable and prosecuted for failure in their duties to uphold the law.

I’m just curious as to why Save and Sandra did not do anything about this back then? I say this because, they would like the general public to know that their team is a team that abides by the law. That their team will enforce and prosecute those who violate the laws of our territory. But, isn’t that hypocrisy at it’s worst? As a Samoan Judge and as a private entrepreneur of a non-profit organization, in collusion with ASG’s Department of Human & Social Services, for PICED, don’t you think they have the same responsibility as citizens to report this to the authorities. But now that they are running for public office, it’s OK to report a violation as candidates, is this right? So in essence, what’s good for the goose, isn’t necessarily good for the gander, a ea? What kind of message are they sending to our youths, for that matter, the country? It’s OK to look the other way some of the time, but, not during times when it’s crucial to an election? I see a double-standard sword in action by the Save Sandra team. But then what do I know. I’m just a simple “tama-faiumu” from Alataua.

Something for our people to ponder over.

JR Faaola

It always seems that during campaign season, almost everyone has an ulterior motive. What was the ulterior motive of the person or persons who leaked the report? How do you know the report was not falsified or altered in some way, as it is a draft and not a final report? Is there a paper trail or factual evidence, apart from the draft report, confirming that there were people who were approved for funding under Section 1602 but did not fully meet the requirements or were ineligible? As this was implied in the draft report that is the hard evidence (and probably the sole evidence) for your story.

Or on the other hand, did you look into the reasons why others were not approved and where they fell short of the requirements? Or are their complaints mostly just a case of sour grapes? Where do you separate fact from fiction in the case of this draft report? You don't just put out a draft report for public consumption and let people pick out the parts they want to believe.

Before you tarnish the work and integrity of employees of DBAS and those who were approved funding under Section 1602, you owe it to them and to the public to do your journalistic duty by exercising due diligence in uncovering the facts before printing a questionable and unverified draft report. Now to the more interesting question, what are your ulterior motives Samoa News?

The issue is not the newspaper. The issue is, "Did the bank give money to people who did not qualify for it?" Blaming the newspaper for disturbing peace and harmony is a convenient excuse to escape bad news. Besides, peace and harmony is always being disturbed in American Samoa. Just pay attention to the amount of white collar crime such as embezzlement and violent crime such as sexual assaults. Every day, every day. Fono members have their heads in the sand if they think it is the newspaper that is disturbing the peace and harmony of the island.