An access road is being constructed in Utulei, in the uphill Tramway area, for the proposed 200,000-gallon water tank scheduled to be constructed next year as part of the “Tramway Phase II Water Storage Project” funded by the Department of Interior and the Environmental Protection Agency.

According to the Executive Director of the American Samoa Power Authority, Utu Abe Malae, the project comes with a price tag of $674,000.

Paramount Builders is carrying out the work, which started about two months ago.

In response to Samoa News inquiries, Utu said the access road is necessary “to provide safe access to the proposed 200,000-gallon water tank that will be constructed next year for the ASPA crew to perform maintenance and other operational tasks.”

There is an existing one-million-gallon water tank in the same area that supplies the Utulei and Fagatogo residents and serves as a storage facility for the central water system.

The existing one-million-gallon water tank is part of the ASPA water central system and Utu said “it is in need of repair.” The proposed 200,000-gallon water tank will be used “to provide water service to the upper residences of Utulei and Fagatogo, and will also assist with the central water system while the existing water tank will be repaired during Phase II of the project.”

The ASPA executive director said the cost of the new tank and the renovations for the old one are about $2 million.

Currently, there are large water tanks at Blunts Point, Utulei (near theTramway) and Pago Pago. According to Utu, the families who live above those tanks “cannot be served with water unless it is pumped.”

He added, “The new tank will be at a higher elevation than most of those families in Utulei and Fagatogo. Those families will benefit from this new tank.”