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Avamua calls for "equal and fair treatment" for commercial buildings

Buiding where "partial certificate of occupancy” was granted and Historic Preservation Office moved in prior to completion of the building
Says 'partial certificate of occupancy' has never been issued for any Haleck buildings
fili@samoanews.com

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — Haleck Enterprises, Inc., president Avamua Dave Haleck has called on the Department of Public Works for “equal and fair treatment” for new commercial construction buildings after DPW issued a “partial certificate of occupancy” for the still under construction, Paramount building in Tafuna - heading into Fagaima.

It was during a cabinet meeting last month, that Lt. Gov. Lemanu Peleti Mauga revealed that he had requested and Public Works director, Faleosina Voigt, issued the “partial certificate of occupancy” for the Paramount building because the Historic Preservation Office had already moved into the ground floor.

In an Apr. 2nd letter to the DPW director, Avamua said he “read with interest” in the news DPW’s issuance of a partial certificate of occupancy “to a yet to be completed commercial building in Tafuna.” Avamua didn’t name the building or its owner.

“I have no ill feelings toward the owner(s) of this commercial building and wish them all the success,” he said, noting that he was writing to DPW “to ask only for equal and fair treatment for new construction of commercial buildings,”

Avamua said he has been developing commercial buildings on “our properties in Ottoville and in all my years of developing real property, we have never been issued a partial certificate of occupancy for any of our buildings that have not been finished.”

From the start of the process with the Commerce Department and Project Notification and Review System (PNRS), to providing construction drawings to DPW, “my company has been demanded to complete additional costly conditions in order to gain approval of a building permit,” Avamua explained.

These additional demands include turn lane by Cost U Less, turn lane and sidewalks at the FAA/Ottoville roads, “ample parking for all my projects - one parking stall to every 300/500 square feet of leasable building space - and soakage pits to retain all surface water on my site,” he pointed out.

“I have sacrificed valuable real property and have complied in order to get approval to build,” Avamua said, noting that he sees other projects not having to comply with the same conditions.

“For example, the new commercial building that I’m speaking of does NOT have a proper soakage pit to retain roof water and site drainage,” he said. “While it has brick pavers in front of the parking lot it is not sufficient to retain the site water and at times of heavy rain, water will flow to the street causing a further hazard to those driving on Fagaima Road.”

Additionally, the building does not have sufficient parking for the size of the building that it is.

“It is my hope that in the future our government uses the same set of rules for everyone and not single out anyone in particular,” he concluded.

Avamua said yesterday that the letter was to bring attention to DPW and other ASG agencies, that if agencies are imposing conditions to obtain Land Use Permits and Building Permits “then there should be strict compliance to those conditions.”

Compliance includes draining, parking and the American Disability Act. “If an owner does not comply, no certificate of occupancy should be issued,” he said.

Concerns raised by Avamua were similar to those cited by other businesses who contacted Samoa News but have all declined to be identified by name.