The American Samoa Economic Development Authority (ASEDA) board is preparing a presentation for the governor showing the timelines of projects which have already identified revenue streams, for bonds to be issued under ASEDA which will help boost the local economy, thereby creating new jobs.

Passed by the Fono earlier this month and signed into law last week by Gov. Lolo Matalasi Moliga, the ASEDA bill modernizes and enhances the bond issuing capability of ASEDA, which the governor reestablished last year.

Lolo said the important changes to existing laws for ASEDA “takes us [to] the next step in making it easier for American Samoa to enter the United States’ bond market in order to manage our debt, and to finance major infrastructure projects in the future."

Additionally, these amendments “now give us much the same financial capabilities as other states, territories  and municipalities have,” Lolo said in an Oct. 21 letter to the Fono leaders upon signing the bill into law.

Lolo said the administration thanks the Fono for approval of this measure and “looks forward to working closely with the Legislature as we become better able to manage our finances and more capable of conceiving and financing long range capital investment projects in order to build a better future for our territory”.

The legislation, which goes into effect immediately after passage by the Fono and approval of the governor, gives the ASEDA board the authority to refinance six long term debts totaling $35.5 million. It also gives them the authority to issue bonds totaling $75.3 million in order to generate revenue to fund seven specific projects.

Responding to Samoa News inquiries, ASEDA board member and the governor’s executive assistant, Iulogologo Joseph Pereira said, the board is “preparing the timelines” of the projects for presentation to the governor. 

He said the presentation will detail steps and a timeline connected with each project, to facilitate the issuance of requisite bonds for projects with already “identified revenue streams” such as the Grant Anticipation Revenue Vehicles (GARVEE) Bond program for road projects.

Iulogologo said that once the governor and lieutenant governor approve the project timeline, ASEDA will proceed with implementation.

“ASEDA is constantly conducting conference calls with our financial advisors regarding the timelines on the implementation and issuance of bonds,” he said yesterday. (The financial advisors are based in the U.S.)

IDENTIFIED REVENUE STREAMS

Based on testimonies before the Fono, the ASEDA board says that projects which already have sources of revenue streams include the $20.3 million bond for road projects, under the federal government’s GARVEE bond program. They say that the $2 million the territory gets annually from the Federal Highway Administration has been pledged for this project.

For the new Manu’a ferry boat which will sail between Tutuila and Manu’a, part of the annual Interior Department’s capital improvement project funds have been pledged to this project, which is a $10 million bond.

On the $5 million bond for the ‘airport fuel tank relocation’ project, part of the CIP funds and a percentage of revenues collected by the ASG Fuel Tank Farm operations will be pledged for this venture, Iulogologo told senators early this month. 

The other four projects— each with a $10 million bond— include the Charter Bank, Malaloa Marina Wharf, a new Fono building and a cannery container wharf.  These four projects have “no revenue streams” at this point and the ASEDA board needs authority, under this legislation, to get new revenue streams for these projects, Iulogologo explained.

It was stressed to senators that although the bill states that all tax revenues are pledged for repayment, the ASEDA board can only utilize between 20% and 25% of these revenues. Any additional revenues needed — beyond 25% — will require Fono approval.