SSIC adds two more probes to investigative list — land buy in Hawaii, TALOFAPass

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — In addition to the investigation into the Nu’u Fou lands, the Senate Select Investigative Committee (SSCI) has been tasked to investigate government projects such as the purchase of 65 acres of land in Kunia, Hawaii and the TALOFAPass.

President of the Senate, Tuaolo Manaia Fruean directed that these matter should be investigated as there are more questions than answers, which is concerning.

“The land in Hawaii is another significant issue the SSIC should also look into,” said Tuaolo during a Senate session this week.

Last month it was confirmed the American Samoa Government is looking to buy 65 acres of land north-west of Honolulu, which is intended to bring in revenue, be a base for people unable to return home due to COVID or other reasons, and for American Samoan students to stay while studying in Hawaii.

As reported earlier, Governor Lemanu Peleti Mauga says the land purchase has not been finalized and they're in the due diligence phase.

Last year during his trip to Hawaii he met twice with the landowner, a Vietnamese man.

The owner is proposing to sell 65 acres of land, which is currently zoned for farming.

Lemanu said, most American Samoans don't have families in Hawaii to stay with so perhaps the government could build accommodations to house them. He also pointed to the medical referrals, many of whom are elderly citizens, who don't have relatives in Hawaii and cannot afford the cost of accommodations while seeking treatment.

Another priority issue on the list for the SSIC to investigate is the Government’s $6.4 million TALOFAPass websystem, which screens travelers entering American Samoa.

The contract awarded the American Samoa Safe Travel System to Datahouse Consulting Inc of Honolulu last year.

Tuaolo said there are countless complaints by members of the public regarding the TALOFAPass — where some people are having a hard time coming to American Samoa as a result.

The Chair of the SSIC Togiola Tulafono was told to also put this on their agenda.

During the official opening of the Legislature Governor Lemanu declared the administration’s support for the TALOFAPass .

He said the Government’s capacity to respond and provide adequate healthcare for the people, one of the strategies that proved to have an immediate impact was to close off the island completely. This presented the right opportunity for American Samoa to move further into the digital age, with the TALOFAPass that was developed to provide safe travel protocols, quarantine tracking, and contact tracing.

He said the TALOFAPass  continues to be ASG’s premiere IT Solution in monitoring and verifying the entry of travelers and it’s a tool that ASG has chosen to invest in to improve the resilience of the local Immigration Office and the Health Department and further improve the safety of the territory.

Earlier this week, Faipule Lua’itaua Gene Pan said he believes that it’s about time to end use of the TALOFAPass web system before it brings more frustration and pain to the people.

During the House Session Lua’itaua said the reason behind the establishment of the TALOFAPass was good when ASG wanted to monitor travelers entering the territory during the time of the pandemic.

“Today, TALOFAPass is a headache and it causes a lot of stress and pain to our people and it’s about time to end the TALOFAPass websystem,” Lua’itaua said.