DDW restaurant’s additions and Utulei seawall proceeding without formal protest

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — Samoa News received these photos of Don’t Drink the Water restaurant’s building addition yesterday that our reader said their research has found is “un-permitted’ — no PNRS permit — which would review the environmental impact of the building addition to the beach. If there are permits — Building and PNRS — they are required to be posted publicly in the construction area.

Construction, dredging, etc. on Utulei Beach also involves the federal government, as the beach is under auspices of the National Park Service. The beach has received substantial funding from NPS and is designated a park area. This is also a part of the area that was involved in a controversy in 2006 when former Gov. Togiola Tulafono  approved a beachfront McDonald’s restaurant on Utulei Beach. Plans were eventually abandoned after community outcry.

Seawall work at Utulei Beach Park behind DDW restaurant. [courtesy photo]

So far this construction has been ongoing with no one formally protesting the construction or dredging, including the absence of an environment impact study, or even a PNRS permit. The reader said that perhaps it was time to file a court injunction against the construction to stop it, as the government seems to be doing it’s own building, including a seawall without permits.
[Courtesy photos]