Ten applicants approved for ARPA’s building compliance program

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — ASG’s American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) Oversight Office has approved 10 applicants for the territory’s Public Buildings CDC Compliance Program, which is allocated $12 million under American Samoa’s share of the ARPA funds, according to the latest Oversight Office performance report, as of July 30.

However, the names of the 10 approved applicants have not yet been released and the Oversight Office points out that a portion of this award will also be made available to ASG agencies and departments for emergency response to address their immediate needs during the COVID-19 pandemic for a safe working environment.

Earlier this year, the Oversight Office announced that it is the designated agency for this project and also held public workshops in accordance with rules of the ARPA funds.

Samoa News understands that names of the approved applicants will be made public once the awards are made and the amounts approved as well.

An overview of the project states that the U.S Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has issued requirements and guidelines for safe workplaces and public buildings, which the “territory currently is not able to meet and comply with.”

It notes that ASG plays a major role in ensuring the protection and safeguarding of the health and lives of its people. “ASG workers are exposed to health hazards and poor conditions of these public facilities on a regular basis,” the documents said.

The general public is also an impacted part of the population exposed to these health hazards, according to the documents noting that American Samoa is presently non-compliant with CDC standards and guidelines for public facilities.

The documents cite the A.P. Lutali Executive Office Building (EOB) in Utulei as a good example of a public building that needs major renovations and improvements.

Constructed in 1991, the building has long standing issues due to poor maintenance and environmental factors. These issues are considered health hazards that pose high risk to ASG workers and the general public, the document said. 

They include on-going problems with rodent infestation, poor ventilation systems, water leakage, mold growth, poor indoor air quality, among others. There is high density in office spaces due to limited available space for expansion, which creates challenges to meet CDC standards and recommendations. (See Samoa News edition Jan. 25, 2022 for details of the CDC compliance program story.)

The EOB recently became the subject of new concerns raised during a House committee hearing this month in which lawmakers were told that the building has been condemned twice by inspectors from the Department of Health (DoH) due to the unsafe conditions including a lot of rats roaming inside the building everyday. However, ASG is still using the building as per orders from the governor.

Health director Motusa Tuileana Nua told the House committee that he received the report from health inspectors and he commended them for their hard work. However, after discussing the issue with Gov. Lemanu Peleti Mauga, the governor instructed him to advise his Inspectors not to pay any more visits to the EOB but let him and his Chief of Staff address the problem and come up with a plan on how to resolve it.

There has been no official public comment from the governor on this issue.