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Lolo orders a complete assessment of all gov’t assets and property

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Says an accurate submission could reduce ASG’s insurance premium
fili@samoanews.com

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — With “discrepancies” discovered under the list of current ASG assets, Gov. Lolo Matalasi Moliga has ordered a complete and accurate assessment of all government assets and property, for submission to its insurance carrier, which could result in a reduced insurance premium.

Speaking at last Friday’s cabinet meeting, Lolo said an ASG review of its property and assets shows that many of the assets cited by its insurance provider no longer exist. “We’re asking you to re-evaluate the assets that you have to make sure the numbers the insurance [carrier] is giving us correspond with what we have,” Lolo told cabinet members, who were also given the governor’s Jan. 10, 2020 letter calling for a complete assessment of ASG assets.

In the letter, Lolo explained that although he has authorized the “six-month extension on our current insurance policy, we have obtained from our current insurance carrier assurance that our insurance policy premium could be reduced if an accurate count of assets and their requisite values are provided.”

He said a review “revealed obvious and clear discrepancies” which prompted him to instruct ASG acting Insurance Commissioner, Elizabeth Perry, to conduct a “comprehensive assessment and documentation of all of our assets, along with establishing realistic replacement values.”

Lolo identified 8 ASG agencies and offices that’ll work with Perry on the task. All cabinet members were informed to codify costs of the assets under their control, cost of acquiring the assets, and their replacement values.

According to Lolo, a review of ASG property insurance policy for 2012-2020 showed that “our listed assets and values increased by $50 million which of course increased our insurance premium considerably.”

But “significant discrepancies were observed when the current list of assets was assessed” which prompted the decision for a comprehensive review and assessment of all ASG assets, he explained.

“This assessment is time sensitive,” said Lolo, who directed cabinet members to “place urgency” on completing the task. He said the Assets Inventory and Valuation Report is to be completed as soon as possible and the deadline for submission to the ASG Insurance Commission’s Office is the end of this month.