$40M+ from ARPA funds allocated for economic development projects at ports

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — Just over $40 million is allocated for three economic development projects for airport, seaport and inter-island transportation, funded with American Samoa’s share of the $479 million under the federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) of 2021, according to ASG’s ARPA Oversight Office’s in new publicly released documents relating to “category requirements” for these projects.

American Samoa Recovery Plan Performance Report for the State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (SLFRF) 2021 Report — already submitted to the federal grantor — and presented to senators during a Senate Rules Committee hearing last month, shows $35 million from ARPA funds budgeted for the seaport and airport economic program.

There was no specific breakdown in allocations for seaport and airport. The overview of the project, cited in the performance report, made mention of improving inter island transportation between Tutuila and the territory’s outer islands but no other details. (See Samoa News edition Sept. 29th for more details).

ARPA Oversight Office released recently, three sets of new documents — posted on its website — showing a total of $43 million for three projects overseen by Port Administration Department, and each project has a timeline of six months to 18 months for implementation.

According to ARPA Oversight Office, the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency declaration has had a great impact on American Samoa’s local economic and commercial activity.

SEAPORT PROJECT

According to the documents, $20 million is budgeted the “Seaport facility program” project. It explains that COVID-19 declaration has highlighted the dire need to improve the lone seaport facility to ensure the reliable flow of critical goods including medicines, medical supplies, grocery goods, building materials, equipment, vehicles and all manner of basic necessities are able to be imported with minimal interruption.

Furthermore, handling global supply chain issues and the increased transportation costs are further exacerbated with interruptions at our lone seaport, as it is currently inadequate to allow for safe inspection and clearance of vessels and commercial goods.

“The seaport facility may be the single most important facility to keep protect our economy and welfare of our people,” it says.

AIRPORT FACILITY

The documents shows that $15 million is budgeted for “Airport economic program” project. It also says that COVID-19 declaration and “closure of our borders to regular commercial passenger travel has had a profound impact on the territory’s economy and healthcare system”.

Furthermore, American Samoa’s lone airport for all international commercial flights is inadequate to effectively and efficiently operate during the COVID-19 pandemic and under the public health emergency declaration protocols.

“The lack of available operating area for all the governmental entities to ensure safe and secure arrival and departure of passengers during these pandemic situations has been highlighted during the border closure,” it says.

“Our ability to reopen and operate safely under these conditions with the present state of the Airport would not allow for safe operations and puts the territory at further risk to exposure and spread of the COVID-19 virus,” the documents states.

It also says that the “proposed renovations and improvements will allow the Airport to more safely operate under pandemic conditions and allow for the reopening of our borders sooner. This would allow our residents to seek much needed and much delayed healthcare services and treatment unavailable on island presently”.

INTER-ISLAND TRANSPORT

A total of $8 million is allocated for the “Inter-Island transportation economic program” project, according to the documents, which also states that COVID-19 declaration has highlighted the critical need to improve transportation between the main island of Tutuila and all the other islands in the territory.

“The ability to transport passengers to and from these outer islands for healthcare services and for any and all commercial activity is critical for our recovery,” it says.

“Global supply chain issues are felt even more in the outer islands, the Manu’a Islands in particular, as our main inter-island ferry cannot access the Manu’a island ports year- round due to difficult weather conditions,” it says.

According to the documents, providing reliable transportation for healthcare related needs and for addressing the negative economic impact in American Samoa’s outer islands are essential in our response to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the public health emergency declaration.

CATEGORY REQUIREMENTS

The documents identified “key stakeholders” for all three projects and they include port users and private sector representation. It cited the importance of “community engagement” saying that the intent of the US Treasury in fostering public participation is to maintain transparency and provide opportunities for feedback to ensure that funds are used in the most beneficial manner.

Other requirements include a timeline on the project launch, scope of work for each project, and adherence to ASG procurement process. A separate document - also released recently - provides information on the “60 Day Public Engagement Schedule” for the three proposed projects.

Details of these documents are publicly available on the ARPA Oversight Office website [https://www.americansamoa.gov/arpa]. And the public is encouraged to read the details are there is a lot of information that needs the community’s understanding.