Families affected by rising prices are blaming ASG for inaction

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — Many people are very concerned over the high cost of living in American Samoa right now and some low income families are finding it difficult to provide for their families.

A lot of employees at the canneries say that the cost of living continues to increase every month and the government isn’t doing anything to stop business owners from increasing the costs of their products.

This week, Saole faipule Titialii Kitara Vaiau raised the issue twice in the House chamber about rising prices and the fact that ASG is still sitting, doing nothing.

Titiali’i said that over 50% of tax payers in the territory are from low income families who live their daily lives from pay check to pay check. He said that even a piece of fish is too much for local people to buy.

“How can these low income families survive if the box of chicken legs is over $20 and a weekly salary is only $150. How can a poor family of ten members survive if the father is the only breadwinner for the family?” Titiali’i asked.

Titiali’i said if you go to a local retail store for shopping, and make notes of the prices of each product — the next day or a week when you visit the same store again, you will notice that the prices have changed — upward.

Titiali’i said that American Samoa is facing a serious problem with the high cost of living and the problem is out of control because ASG is not making any moves to stop shop owners from increasing prices.

Samoa News found a number of people have been cutting back on food shopping and essentials in the last few months.

Mrs. Feiloaiga Tagaloa of Tafuna told Samoa News that due to the high cost of living and the low income situation for her family, she tries to make sure her children get the support they need everyday.

“This is really hard for me as a single mother with four young children at home. We live from pay check to pay check every two weeks and the situation for us is getting worse because the cost of living is very high and our family income remains the same every day,” Mrs. Tagaloa said.

Construction workers who spoke to Samoa News said they are feeling worried about the rising prices in the territory.

“For me as a married father with 5 children, I’m worried nearly every day because of the situation my family is facing. I thank God for the strength and life to be able to wake up every morning and go to work.

“There are the many gifts from heaven, however, looking at the cost of living in our small territory, it’s a huge problem for low income family like my family because we can’t afford to buy everything we need with the small money we have,” said Faamanu Peleti, a 47 year-old construction worker from Pava’ia’i.

Peleti said he drives his vehicle every day to work while his wife stays home looking after their young children. When the fuel price went over $5 a gallon, he decided to leave his vehicle at home and take a bus to work in order for him to save money to feed his family.

“The cost of every single item inside the store has increased nearly every week. The price of rice, sugar, noodles, a box of chicken, turkey tails, you name it — are going up and not a single person from the government is taking a serious look at this problem,” Peleti said.

A teacher at a local school for over ten years echoed the same concern.

She said she went to a local store at her village for shopping and noticed the cost of many products had increased. Two weeks later, she went back to the same store for shopping and noticed a big increase on the goods.

She told Samoa News that she called the Attorney General’s office and reported the problem of rising prices of goods but she was told by the person who answered the phone that she needed to provide proof.

“Why are they (AG’s office) asking for proof. Their job is to get out of their office and investigate the public’s concern. This is not a joke — this is serious for all of us low income families who can’t afford the high cost of living,” Mrs. Faasina Laolagi said.

A long time ASG employee — who is also a businessman and asked not to be identified — believes that the government is not doing much to support the community. He said while the government leaders are doing a lot of things to support the whole community, they have failed to do things to support the life of individuals.

“Look around you, we have a lot of new school buildings, big infrastructure, good roads, you name it, but when it comes to things that benefit low income families and individuals, the government failed on that part,” the businessman said.

The businessman said the government needs to increase the minimum wage to meet the high cost of living. He also said that one of the things government and Fono leaders need to look at is to update the IRS Tax Table for American Samoa.

“Updating the tax table would provide much needed tax relief to the people of American Samoa and free up money that could be spent in the economy,” the businessman said.

Moreover, the businessman said getting more money in the hands of the people would give low income families the opportunity to feed their children and answer to their daily needs.

Samoa News also received a Letter to the Editor from a “concerned citizen” about the rising cost of petroleum that has increased the cost of electricity by almost 200% as well as gas prices. The person noted that “this was not mentioned by the Governor in his ’State of the Territory’ address” and pointed to maybe this lack was due to the “Governor and his people drive around in ASG vehicles without paying for gas”; and that the high prices do “not affect them due to their high salaries.”

BACKGROUND

A bill to remove the freeze on local tax table was introduced in the Senate and assigned to the Rules Committee last year for review and action.

The bill is currently pending in the Senate committee and hopefully it will be taken up during the current 4th regular session, which is the final session of the 37th Legislature.

The tax table currently in use is the 2000 IRS table, but the administration bill would change that and with yearly updates, by 2026 the IRS tax table for that same year would kick in. For each year after that, American Samoa would follow the same tax table that the IRS uses.