Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — The American Samoa Government was represented at the 1st United States Territorial Peer Exchange (USTPE) in Denver, Colorado last month by employees of the Department of Public Works.

The delegation was led by DPW director Faleosina Faiai Voigt. Those who attended included: Reuben Siatu’u, chief engineer; Doris Sipeli’i, manager for design engineers; Estela Rubin, design engineer; Dympna Pangilinan, design engineer; Alofa Tanuvasa, construction manager; Onolata Rosanna Saleapaga, construction manager; and Tanya Ma’o-Aab, CHD office manager.

According to the US Department of Transportation, the 1st USTPE was conceived with "the purpose of highlighting the Federal-Aid Highway Program trainings, contract administration, emergency relief program funding, and focused discussions on best practices in the technical and administrative areas, as well as to gather ideas and lessons learned between peers."

The agenda for the 5-day event included presentations from more than 25 speakers from federal and state agencies, and it was divided into two parts - workshops and local project site visits.

The presentations are available for download at the Puerto Rico LTAP website <http://prltap.org/eng/us-territorial-peer-exchange/>

The event was a collaboration with Central Federal Lands and Federal Highway Administration officials. Documenting of the special event, and the preparation of the Workshop Report on "US Territorial Meeting: Lessons Learned and Next Steps" was made possible by the director and staff of the Puerto Rico Local Technical Assistance Program (PR-LTAP)