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DOC awarded over $100,000 for pilot project at Utulei Beach

The Department of Interior Office of Insular Affairs announced recently that the ASG Department of Commerce (DOC) is being awarded a grant in the amount of $138,718 to conduct a pilot project at Utulei Beach aimed at eliminating the outflow of litter into the harbor.

 

Interior Assistant Secretary for Insular Areas Esther Kia’aina stated that this grant was a part of $926,328 in total grant funding awarded to the Insular Areas under the Office of Insular Affairs’ Coral Reef Initiative Program.

 

“This is great news for American Samoa. This grant will provide a nice boost towards our efforts to execute items included the Economic Development Implementation Plan, specifically with regards to strengthening our developing tourism industry. The marine debris project also compliments other tourism related initiatives that DOC has undertaken in the harbor area, such as the Utulei Beach Recovery, Boardwalk, Tramway, and the Rainmaker Hotel Redevelopment projects.” stated DOC.

 

Acting Director Uili Leauanae said, “The health of our reefs and the cleanliness of our ocean are also very important to our way of life. As an island community, we have a responsibility to ensure these resources are preserved for generations to come.”

 

In 2013, Gov. Lolo M. Moliga issued an executive order commissioning a task force whose primary mission was to prepare an Economic Development Implementation Plan (EDIP) for the territory.

 

In the EDIP, the development of Tourism and Eco-tourism calls for significant improvements to the cleanliness of our island. The EDIP also states “tourists are impressed with the lush beauty of the islands but upon closer inspection, they comment with alarm on the amount of trash strewn all over the place.”

 

DOC Project Manager Michael McDonald also commented on the significance of this award. “The issue, simply put, is that litter makes it way into streams in our villages and eventually it all ends up in our ocean, damaging our reefs, and polluting our shores. As this is a pilot project, should we successfully mitigate the problem, we can then reapply to the grantor for Phase II of our project, which addresses additional outflows that are significantly impacting the health of our reef and the cleanliness of our oceans.”

 

McDonald noted, “There has been such great support towards keeping American Samoa beautiful. The EPAAS, the Governor’s Islands Wide Clean Up Committee, as well as work done by villages and NGO’s have all made a significant impact on the cleanliness of our island. It is our goal to build on those efforts, to work with public & private sector partners, to protect our natural resources and to keep American Samoa beautiful.”

 

For more information regarding the Utulei Beach marine debris pilot project, please contact the DOC at 633-5155.