TBAS issues raised during Senate hearing for new ASPA board members

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — During a committee hearing yesterday, Senate President Tuaolo Manaia Fruean said there are a lot of complaints regarding the Territorial Bank of American Samoa (TBAS) and asked TBAS board member Leilua Stevenson to look into it.

Tuaolo made the public statement and request when Stevenson appeared before the Senate Energy, Power & Water Committee — along with Administrative Services director Afalava Eliki Afalava and electrical engineer Ted Leiato — for their combined confirmation hearing as new board members for the American Samoa Power Authority (ASPA)

All three nominees were confirmed later yesterday during the Senate session and the final confirmation rests with the House in the coming days.

TBAS ISSUES

The Senate President informed Stevenson that there are a lot of complaints coming out of TBAS and that last week, another three employees left the bank, with “no reason, no explanation”.

Tuaolo pointed out that if these individuals take the matter to court, the “bank is liable”. He also said that he has a file on TBAS issues and has spoken earlier in the week about it with another TBAS board member, Sen. Togiola T.A. Tulafono, with Sen. Soliai Tuipine Fuimaono present.

He asked Stevenson to “take a look” into the issues with TBAS, saying that he believes that the bank’s board is not aware of such matters.

He said there’s no one else the public can seek answers from, except their lawmakers. 

Tuaolo didn’t provide publicly specific details on the complaints and other TBAS matters except to say that deductions are made when a customer comes in to cash their checks.

For the new ASPA board-nominees, both Tuaolo and other senators who spoke during the hearing acknowledged that the nominees are qualified for the appointments made by the governor.

Sen. Malaepule Saite Moliga asked Leiato why he left ASPA where he had worked for many years and is now working for another Authority — the American Samoa TeleCommunications Authority. Additionally, the senator asked if there’s a conflict with him working at ASTCA and also serving on the ASPA board.

Leiato sad he resigned from ASPA to allow himself more time for his new calling, as a church minister. And working at ASTCA still provides him more time for his duties in serving God.

Leiato — who worked at ASPA for 23 years with 9 of those years as power generation manager — said there’s no conflict with his ASTCA post and serving as a board member of ASPA.

He is currently a special projects manager at ASTCA.

If confirmed by the Fono, Sen. Uti Petelo recommended to the nominees for the board to re-visit and review ASPA’s long-standing Boil Water Notice — which has been in place for many many years for certain villages of Tutuila — and there are still no improvements to the drinking water.

Uti complained that boiling water for consumption also increases the electric bill for customers who are already faced with the high cost of electricity. He asked the nominees for the board to look at ways to address this problem.

The Governor’s Territorial Comprehensive Report — distributed to lawmakers last month — states that with more than $1.6 million in funding from the U.S Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA), ASPA has completed drilling of three new wells, which will improve the water supply, pressure, and distribution in the Central Water System.

It says that the increase in water supply will also enable ASPA to shut down GUDI wells and allow for the lifting of the Boil Water Notice in the Central Water System.

The report also states that the new Well #15 project — funded with $1.3 million from USEPA is completed and the new well improves water pressure and distribution in the Eastern District Water System. The new well increases the water supply and enables ASPA to shut down GUDI wells and allow for the lifting of the Boil Water Notice (BWN) in the Eastern District Water System.