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Rep. Gafatasi slams the KVZK director, tells him he's not doing his job

Director of KVZK-TV, Tuimavave Tauapa’i Laupola and his deputies
Aitulagi/ Leasina faipule says it may be time to lease the TV station to a private company
ausage@samoanews.com

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — Despite a clear explanation by the director of the Office of Public Information (KVZK-TV) to members of the House on the reason why church services are now recorded at the KVZK studio in Utulei instead of in the villages, Rep. Gafatasi Afalava — who raised the issue several times inside the chamber — was not satisfied.

Gafatasi told KVZK-TV director, Tuimavave Tauapai Laupola and his two deputies, Tialuga Vince Iuli and Tautinei Misioka Ola, who appeared before the House Government Operations committee that the many technical problems are because the “director and his staff are not doing their job.”

Committee vice chairman, Rep. Manumaua Wayne Wilson chaired the hearing.

Tuimavave explained to the committee that church services are recorded at the KVZK studio in Utulei instead of in the village churches, based on advice from the Governor.

And the governor’s advice was based on his recollection of some technical problems that arose — on more than one occasion — when services were recorded in local churches.

Tuimavave recalled incidents when recordings of church services done in several churches were replayed at the studio, and nothing came out. According to the director, for those mishaps, the ministers were called back to re-record the service in the KVZK studio.

Tuimavave referred to another incident during the recording of a program for the Catholic youth last December.

He said a pianist — trying to unplug his piano cord from the main connector — accidentally unplugged the main connector which hooks up all the wires for the system. As a result, the recording was disconnected.

The KVZK TV director said he brought the issue up with Gov. Lolo Matalasi Moliga and it was Lolo who advised him that, in an effort to avoid any future problems with the recordings, it’s best that all church services be recorded at the main studio in Utulei.

The director made it clear to the committee that there is still a chance that church services can be recorded in the villages; however, it will come with a cost to accommodate the time and equipment used for the recording. He said if a village can afford to pay the costs, his staff would do the job. The money each church pays will go to the government for other purposes.

Vice Speaker Fetu Fetui Jr thanked Tuimavave and his staff and said that without their service, the community will not be updated on what's happening around the island and the world. He added that during a visit to Samoa two months ago, he noticed that television stations in Samoa are much more improved than ours.

He said the territory had a television station before Samoa, and it's sad that the programs in Samoa are more advanced, with good quality, than the ones aired by our local TV station.

When Fetu asked if there is a reason why the programs are different in the two Samoas, Tuimavave said the main problem is, they don’t have an engineer who can fix a lot of the technical issues they have been dealing with for many years.

He said they've been looking for a certified engineer for years, and the position was advertised in American Samoa, Samoa, and even the United States; however, no one has applied. Pointing to one of the major problems is the lack of funds to pay for a good engineer, as right now, the lowest salary for a certified engineer is $130,000.

For now, Tuimavave said they are using some local high school graduates.

Gafatasi did not mince his words when he spoke.

“I don’t accept your excuse that church services and other local programs are being recorded in the studio because it is more convenient as far as equipment transfer. Why is it so hard to transfer your equipment when recording church service programs? But when it comes to other government functions, you’re able to transfer your equipment to whatever village the programs are being held?” Gafatasi asked.

“You've mentioned a lot of reasons for the problems. But my question is, what are you doing as a director to fix this problem?”

“It's been over 3 years since you were appointed as director for our local television station and you still don’t know how to fix the problem?”

Gafatasi compared the local TV station to others around the Pacific and the world, and said ours isn't even close to the services other stations offer to their people. He said if this is the way our local TV station continues to operate, it's better for the government to lease it out to a private company with all the tools, equipment, and certified staff to operate it.

He told Tuimavave that he watched a church service for the Iliili CCCAS a few Sundays ago, recorded by an individual who operates his own recording business. The quality of the church service — which was aired on our local television station — was excellent, he said. The church also paid for the recording.

“If this young man who operates his own recording business can go out to villages and record church services, why can’t your staff do the same thing?” Gafatasi asked Tuimavave.

“I salute you director and your staff for your service, but to me, you’re not doing your best to serve the people.”