Flooding near Golf Course worse since work on drainage & fence

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — Heavy rain during the early morning hours on Monday this week caused severe flooding in pocket-areas across the island including this secondary road at the lower area of the Golf Course.

Tualauta Rep. Larry Sanitoa, later Monday morning, shared with Public Works director, Faleosina Voigt, concerns raised by several residents and motorists who use this secondary road.

“Residents and motorists were frustrated and disappointed with the ongoing and now very dangerous flooding on the golf course road, by the home of former Gov. Togiola Tulafono,” Sanitoa wrote to Public Works director Faleosina Voigt after his visit to this golf course road.

According to Sanitoa, residents who called him were heading to work and/ or taking their children to school but after looking at the dangerous flooding area, they decided to stay home instead.

“According to the residents, while the flooding by this drainage area was there before, the water would eventually recede in a reasonable time,” he wrote to Voigt. “However, since the new fence went up and the contractor worked on rebuilding the soakage pit drainage, the problem has become worse and flooding is very dangerous now.

Furthermore, the overflow from the drainage area has now affected several homes across from the drainage.

(Samoa News received similar complaints from residents and motorists that use this road, regarding the drainage problem and now flooding, making it impossible to cross the road.)

Flooding also was seen in a large area of the golf course that is next to the golf course road.

Sanitoa was at the golf course road site Monday morning and he met the DPW road maintenance crew who was there and doing their best they could as the water was not receding at all.

Furthermore, Sports Complex/Golf Course executive director Toleafoa Henry Tavake came by as well. Sanitoa said Toleafoa will reach out to the contractor to find a temporary solution “as we need to revisit the entire engineering design and plan.”

Sanitoa reminded Voigt that one of the concerns brought up during the last House committee hearing with DPW was the lack of oversight and proper engineering on many of the ongoing ASG projects — especially when it comes to drainage systems.

“The problem at the golf course drainage is a perfect example of the lack of proper oversight and good engineering,” he said.

“Given the amount of money already spent on the new golf course fence and drainage,” Sanitoa asked DPW to “revisit the entire drainage system by the golf course area by our professional engineering team fa'amolemole.”