New Port director fields questions about Manu’a service during confirmation hearings

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — No stone was left unturned during the House of Representatives confirmation hearing of Director of Port Administration, Christopher King Monday morning. The hearing was chaired by Chairman of the House Port Administration Committee, Rep. Tiaali’i Fau Sai.

Several House faipule expressed confidence in King’s abilities and praised his leadership noting his experience will help him lead one of the biggest departments of the government.

The majority of questions that King fielded related to the problem of transportation for Manu’a and what plan the new director has to increase the government service for the people of Manu’a.

Manu’a faipule wanted assurances that the people of Manu’a will receive good air and sea transportation this year.

When asked whether he will make any changes inside the department, King said there were some changes he made to fill some gaps in the department.

Manu’a #1 Faipule and Vice Speaker, Fetu Fetui Jr told King that he has received a lot of complaints from some Port staff about the changes. Fetu told King that there are a lot of good people in his department who know how to do the job but when he places the wrong person in a wrong position, bad things will happen.

While the people of Manu’a continue to be faced with the problem of lack of good transportation, Fetu reminded King that he has been in the department for over 25 years and he should be familiar with ways and ideas on how to fix this problem. He told King to find ways to improve the service for people of Manu’a through the air and sea.

Another Manu’a #1 Faipule, Alumamalu Filoiali’i Ale did not mince words when he was given the floor. He stated that he was very frustrated with the transportation problem the people of Manu’a are facing. He pointed to the use of  an excavator when the MV Manu’atele arrives at the Faleasao wharf, to transport cargo from the vessel to the wharf because there is no forklift.

Alumamalu told King, “This is very dangerous for the safety of our people,” adding that, “It’s a shame to the American Samoa Government (ASG) but it’s a burden to my people.”

The faipule said that he fully supports the appointment of King to lead the department because he knows for sure that he can do the job.

King said the issue in Manu’a is always a challenge because of the limited resources. He said he has a great staff and he knows they will help him out.

Swains Representative, Su’a Alexander Eli Jennings told the hearing that if you look at the Constitution, Manu’a and Swains are mentioned in the Constitution, however, the government continues to neglect Manu’a and Swains.

As a result, the majority of the Manu’a people have moved to Tutuila for a better quality of life. As for Swains, the island is empty because no one can afford to live on the island which goes for the whole year without a vessel or any form of transportation to bring people to and from the island.

“I believe that we can tackle the area of transportation — meaning that we can fly the airplane, twice a day to Manu’a; run the boat, for supplies and whatever, maybe three times a week, if it calls for that,” Su’a said. “I think a lot of service would be provided to Manu’a, meaning people would be able to go back and forth.”

He cited transportation as the key to remedying many of the problems in the Manu’a island group that would allow many of residents of Manu’a to live there instead of on Tutuila.

Despite his frustration about the continuous problem for Manu’a, Su’a is confident that the governor has selected the right person to make a positive change for the betterment of the people in Manu’a.

King was approved by the House of Representatives by an unanimous vote of 18-0. He was approved by the Senate last week and is now officially approved to be the Director of Port Administration for the next four years.