Fagaima intersection closed 7:30-5 during Leapaga Road rehab

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — Despite a cloudy day and a drizzle of rain on Tuesday, Happy Construction Co.’s crew forges ahead with construction of the Leapaga Road — from Fagaima and exiting out at the main road in Malaeimi, close to Manumalo Baptist Academy.

Happy Construction, the contractor, has put out a notice that the Fagaima-4-way intersection to Malaeimi, Kokoland and Ottoville will be closed temporarily from 7:30am to 5pm from now through the month of September while the construction work is completed. 

The public is advised to take alternative routes because the road will only be made available for residents of the area during this time. 

The work is being performed as part of the Department of Public Works Civil Highway Division Project for Route 18 Leapaga Road. 

The project, which includes sidewalks, held a groundbreaking ceremony in the summer of last year, where former Gov. Lolo Matalasi Moliga said payments for the Leapaga family land lease for the road have been advanced up to the end of his term last December. Thereafter he said the Leapaga family could request the new governor to advance future lease payments.

As previously reported by Samoa News, the fiscal year 2021 budget for Special Programs, overseen by the Governor’s Office allocated $21,000 for the Leapaga land lease.

For FY 2022, which begins Oct. 1, 2021, the Lemanu Administration is allocating $50,000 for the Leapaga Family land lease, according to the governor’s budget summary submitted last month to the Fono.

“Road improvements continue to be a priority,” according to the project funding description. “As a consequence, this is a lease payment for family land being offered to construct an access road in Fagaima and Malaeimi area connecting to the main road, close to Manumalo Academy.”

Happy Construction was given 300 calendar days to complete the project, funded by US Federal Highway Administration.

And like other ongoing construction projects on island, there have been delays as a result of shipping delays in the midst of the COVID-19 global pandemic.

Added to those shipping delays is the territory’s unpredictable weather, where many times, heavy rain results in construction work halting temporarily.