Plan to help laid off workers and closed businesses still not finalized

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — While the government plan for providing assistance to laid off workers and businesses closed during the early days of the COVID-19 partial lockdown is not finalized, Lt. Gov. Talauega Eleasalo Ale shared brief information on the three-prong plan, which he says the governor will announce either this week or next.

Talauega first revealed the proposed plan last week saying that the government is working on a plan to provide “some sort of benefit” to workers — especially those in the private sector — impacted when businesses were closed down due to the pandemic and the plan once finalized will be presented to Gov. Lemanu Peleti Mauga.

Asked for an update on the plan during Monday’s virtual news conference, Talauega responded that the “governor’s plan to provide assistance to our employees is going through some final preparations and we hope that with his blessings” the governor will announce it later this week, if not, next week.

Talauega did share a “preview” of the governor’s proposal, which is to provide assistance, not only for employees who were not able to work during the Code Red restrictions, but businesses that closed down.

For the workforce, he said some of them are still not able to go back to work. So the first part of the plan is to provide assistance to employees who have not been getting a paycheck.

According to Talauega, the second part is to provide assistance to businesses, to make sure that businesses, which were forced to close — and some of them are still closed — have access to capital that will get them back to where they were and help limit the negative impact of the closures on their businesses.

 “And then the third aspect of the plan the governor is looking at is providing some assistance to our farmers and fishermen,” he said. “Again their operations were impacted by the closure.”

“The governor is concerned about our food security and wants to make sure that these important people in the community are protected and they have the assistance in order to continue to provide their service,” said Talauega, who reiterated that once the plan is completed, the governor will make the announcement, if not this week, it will be next week.

Samoa News notes that the Fagatogo Market Place — where a majority of farmers sell their produce — as well as food and handicraft vendors — remains closed since Code Red was declared on Feb. 21.

Some farmers have been able to sell limited agriculture products at road-side stands but not fishermen.