Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — Gov. Lolo Matalasi Moliga has instructed the Attorney General’s Office to develop policy for traffic in and out of Laufou Shopping Center, and has directed the Commerce Department to send an advisory to the shopping center owner to comply with local regulations on the number of parking spaces required for such a large facility.

The governor claims that — based on a recently commissioned report — traffic congestion at Laufou is due to the lack of parking space at the shopping center, which houses many businesses, not to mention other businesses around the facility.

Lolo gave the orders to the AG’s Office and DOC director Keniseli Lafaele during last Friday’s cabinet meeting, where he spoke at length about traffic congestion around the Laufou area, and among the examples of planned traffic policy is barring traffic from turning into Laufou Shopping Center during the busy morning and afternoon commute hours.

Another example of traffic policy, was that buses are to be prohibited from off-loading passengers in front of the CBT store in Nu’uuli. And these examples of traffic policies are to be enforced by police.

Lolo told cabinet members that among government assets over which ASG has authority is the highway, and therefore ASG needs to act to protect the safety and well-being of the traveling public on the highway.

The governor revealed that he appointed an ASG official to conduct a “survey” to ascertain the cause of the traffic problem around the Laufou area, and that report was completed within five months.

Upon receiving the report, Lolo said he then reached out to Nu’uuli leaders and families who own land around Laufou seeking assistance for a way to alleviate traffic congestion. (Lolo told a cabinet meeting last month that he’s discussing with village leaders a secondary road behind the Laufou to alleviate traffic congestion in this area.)

According to the governor, land is a treasure for Samoans and it will be up to the land owners to make their final decision but there is ongoing discussion with them. He didn’t reveal any other details.

However, he said the traffic problem continues to be a burden on the public around this area. He said the “survey” report from the DOC director highlighted several important issues. Among them is there are not sufficient parking stalls or space at the shopping center, which is home to more than 20 businesses, including Carl’s Jr. restaurant and Bluesky American Samoa.

He said all these businesses require a lot of parking, such as Carl’s Jr. The governor noted McDonald’s restaurant in Tafuna, where he says parking is “zoned correctly” — with sufficient parking on land of about an acre and it should be the same way for the parking zone for Carl’s Jr.

Lolo said he spent one-week going through Laufou during working days and traffic congestion formed from Laufou almost to the American Samoa Community College. He asked, “why” this is occurring, and he responded, it’s the lack of parking stalls at Laufou, causing traffic to back-up onto the main road.

So last week Thursday, Lolo said he instructed the acting AG to develop a policy to control traffic around Laufou and that such a policy — with discussions with the Police Commissioner — should be implemented Aug. 15th, a week before schools are open for the new school year.

The governor cited examples of the traffic policy — between 7a.m and 8:30a.m vehicles are prohibited from turning into the Laufou shopping center. He said this is a very busy time of the morning with traffic, allowing students and workers to get to their destination, without getting struck in traffic.

And between 3:30p.m and 4:30p.m, no vehicles are allowed to turn into Laufou, as this will prevent traffic congestion as people head home from work, he said.

Also being included in the traffic policy being developed, the governor said, is that buses will not be allowed to pick-up and off load passengers in front of CBT Nu’uuli — which Lolo says is also another cause of traffic congestion in this area of the road.

He said the only vehicles to be allowed in the parking spaces at CBT and nearby businesses are those going to those businesses.

The governor shared with cabinet members what is characterized as another “interesting fact” from the survey-report — 80% of the population resides from Nu’uuli heading to the western side of the island, while 20% of the population resides from Fagatogo heading east. As for the government workforce, 80% have their job location on the eastern side, while 20% on the western side.

“That’s why every morning [during work days] traffic is busy all the way from the college heading east towards Fagatogo, because 80% of the workers have their jobs on the eastern side,” he said.

The governor checked with the ASG Human Resources Department and found that many employees clock-in either at 8:30a.m. or 9a.m. and the only excuse for being late clocking in is that they were held up in traffic around the Laufou area — and “that is true”.

The governor then instructed Public Works to take down the bus stop in front of Laufou, and that should be completed by today, Monday. He said a majority of people at this bus stop are students, who are all wearing their school uniforms.

He also directed DPW to take down by this coming Sunday, (July 26) the bus stop next to the Samoan Fale at Suigaula o le Atuvasa Park at Utulei. He said this bus stop has caused a lot of traffic congestion in this area, especially on work days, around 4p.m when people are going home after work. He said this bus stop should be re-located further down along Suigaula park.

The governor also revealed that ASG will no longer construct bus stops and if a village wants one, a request should be made along with identifying the land where it will be constructed.

To address the parking space issue at Laufou, Lolo directed the DOC director to send an advisory to the owner of the Laufou regarding the required number of parking space for such a facility and to give the owners 60-days to make the required improvements.

After 60-days, if no action is taken, the government will come in and order the removal of businesses that shouldn’t be there. At the start of the new year, only businesses that should be there will be there.

Lolo says that current parking is sufficient for only Carl’s Jr restaurant and Bluesky, while the rest of the businesses should find another site to relocate.

He said he had spoken to the land owner of Laufou and was told that a hilly area behind the shopping center is part of Laufou and this area can be used for additional parking instead of just pilling cinder in the back.

Lolo called on the cabinet to work together in getting this matter resolved in an effort to make is easy for the traveling public to move on the road. He said businesses are not a priority when the public suffers being stuck in traffic.

“Let’s do the right thing for the public,” he said, and emphasized that the Administration is not saying that businesses should not set up operation at Laufou. “We’re saying that to allow only businesses that are sufficient to occupy the facility based on the land given to them.”

He also points out that there are Asian operated businesses around the Laufou also creating parking issues.

According to the governor, businesses at Laufou should be given a 15-day notice to prepare themselves before the traffic policy goes into effect. And for the AG’s Office to issue a public notice regarding the traffic policy before implementation.