15 Jan 2013

Lolo candid about American Samoa's liabilities

3:57 pm on 15 January 2013

American Samoa's new Governor Lolo Matalasi Moliga has given his maiden state of the territory address, outlining that the government has liabilities of more than 44 million US dollars.

He says this includes unpaid court judgments like the laufou fire ruling, Marisco and other civil cases and an unpaid power bill of more than eight million dollars.

Governor Lolo says the full impact of these payouts will be felt at the end of the fiscal year because the projections for corporate and individual taxes will be short of actual revenues by five million dollars.

Lolo says job creation is a priority for his administration, transforming the Department of Commerce to dedicate itself to business and economic development.

He wants a health care change and reduce the current fee to see the doctor from 20 dollars to 10, irrespective of immigration status.

On roads, Governor Lolo says he has instructed the Acting Treasurer to pay a debt of about 200,000 dollars owed to McConnel Dowell so that the company can begin supplying hot mix asphalt again to fix potholes.