American Samoans Respond to CNN Report on Alleged Government Corruption

A small sample of responses, most of them angry towards the American Samoa Government, posted by readers of the local American Samoa newspaper, Samoa News. It received more than 200 responses which, for a small island  with an estimated population of over  65,000, that’s  a significant response .

The People Versus The Government of American Samoa

HIGHLY CONCERNED AND WAY AGGRAVATED wrote:
02 Nov 2009 03:22 PM

this is BS!! 2 billion since 1995 wow that’s 14yrs ago..y is Am. samoa still hurting on funds, why were there roads still looking like 1940’s before the tsunami?, why are there no jobs? why is the cable not extended to every village? why does the government not give what the people want? AND YES IT IS A DEMOCRACY DAMMIT!!! CAN YOU ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS!!!

Anonymous wrote:
30 Oct 2009 07:28 PM

Don’t be surprise if we see and hear families of those who lost their lives during tsunami will file class action lawsuit against the government for its negligence for not installing the siren system. I just hope they will go ahead with the lawsuit.

Samoa Matalasi wrote:
02 Nov 2009 05:00 PM

Sala, seriously it’s kind of late to be making claims that Alailima made false accusations, claims against the government. If anything, CNN does their homework and they would not broadcast anything that is not supported by factual evidence. The fact that the matter is we are corrupt, and when I say we I am speaking in general. We voted to put these people in office. Our matai system and village councils put these crooks in office. It’s too bad that after it all goes down, people like Mr. Sala are still in denial of the implementation of the tsunami warning system. And of all people the governor to me looked like a lost puppy on world news when this topic was brought up. ASG has lost their grip, integrity is out the window and all the good guys are off-island, passed away or never made it into office. Its embarrassing, to watch the news and know that you’re from that island. Samoa has suffered greatly, we have the highest death per capita since the war kicked off, we were devastated with a tsunami and lost a lot of loved ones. I have not lost my pride in my roots, my culture, nor my heritage. I have lost faith in my leaders, both in government and in the village…God Bless American Samoa.

Alataua Lua wrote:
02 Nov 2009 04:19 PM

Save your disputes for the monkeyes. The cnn ain’t worried about those stupid disputes. The facts remain: 34 people dead, no siren or alarm system, millions of dollars was invested from the taxpayers for this purpose, nothing done!!!

Anonymous wrote:
02 Nov 2009 04:19 PM

…The question is what happen to the 13 millions dollars that was provided by the federal government to built an emergency system on the island? It seems to me the only people that you investigate are the one that is going against the administration. Please stop hiding behind curtain and tell the truth where the money went. All these other non sense excuse you can have it. People lost their love ones and thanks to the corrupted politician on the island for that. What a shame, your guys ruin our island. God is watching.

RECALL TOGIOLA AND FIRE SALA wrote:
02 Nov 2009 03:11 PM

Just a few daunting thoughts. Clearly, having an efficient and effective siren warning system was not a priority even after Alailima left American Samoa two years ago. Otherwise, had it been, it would have been done prior to the tsunami, and there would be no issue discussing it now in its aftermath. Moving forward, everyone in rightful authority is duly responsible for preparing our homeland’s security in cases of terrorist attacks, epidemics, catastrophes etc. The U.S. was attacked in 2001. In 2003, American Samoa became eligible for U.S. government assistance in this vain. It is now 2009 – still no means to effectively communicate that you are in danger and need to get to safety to a spread out populace covering two mainly populated livable islands? Does that sound right? Alailima leaves in 2007, and it’s now 2009, what is your excuse for not getting even a mere basic siren warning system in place? Were you waiting for a sign to come from heaven in the form of an earthquake causing a tsunami that killed 34 of our people to realize that you needed one? Wow, what a sad and costly wake-up call!

NENA wrote:
29 Oct 2009 09:39 AM

LMAO!! This is when the United States of America will PULL THE PLUG from American Samoa if American Samoa will continue to MISUSE FEDERAL FUNDS. Hello? Wake Up? Economy is not in good shape right now, the Congress and President Obama worked so hard to get this fund allocated for us because of what happened to us the past month. How can we do such thing in return? PLEASE WE GOTTA WALK THE TALK that we ARE GOD FEARING PEOPLE. What happened to the “SAMOA MUAMUA LE ATUA” motto? We are all over CNN, Hawaiian Local News, 60minutes and Jay Leno show, what else do you want to be known for in FRAUD American Samoa? Oh please and stop blaming the Governor the Governor can’t do anything because his decision is influenced by those in his cabinets (legislation and house) …The Governor is US too. SO STOP ALL THAT BLAMING WHO and WHO…

John Wasko wrote:
30 Oct 2009 06:56 AM

No major news organization carried the CNN story. That’s a wake up call there was something flawed with the reporting. And they just decided we can leave the finger pointing until after we serve the needs of victims and their families.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Correction to John Wasko’s comments above. As another has already pointed out, the CNN story was carried by CBS 60 Minutes and NBC’s Jay Leno. Those are major TV Networks and  they run major news organisations. We haven’t yet done a check on where else the story appears. But John Wasko’s comment above is misleading and appears designed to be so. As for serving the victims and their families, some specific examples would be very helpful.

Manu’a wrote:
02 Nov 2009 02:14 PM

Why is this guy trying to explain his way out to make it like there is no corruption here. ASG is full of corruption. Funds to better Manu’a are used somewhere else. Look at the new clinic in Ta’u. It is always out of medicine. That clinic has a lot of problems. People have to travel to LBJ to get proper care. That clinic lacks too many details that need fixing. The poor doctor there always have to fight for things to be fixed here. The Manu’a Segaula plane just sits there in Pago when there is transportation problems here. We are suffering again because nothing is being done to the MV Sili. Mr. Sala is trying to cover for the governor, and yes, Manu’a looks and operates like a third world country. Close to 300 million dollars from the U.S. every year to American Samoa with a population of 70,0000 plus. Where did all that money go? I don’t want to say anymore, it’s so depressing. CNN stated the facts and told the truth. As for our traditional leaders, a big fa’amalo to all you folks for really doing nothing to better the lives of the Manu’a people

Olagdrvr wrote:
02 Nov 2009 01:09 PM

While the article appears to be an earnest attempt to correct the record, the doublespeak coming from Mr. Sala is disappointing. It is clearly obvious to anyone with half a brain that if funding is cut off from a federal program owing to abusive spending, that follow-on funding will not be available to implement the stated purpose of that program. To try to redirect blame to the Federal Government for failing to fund the warning system is disingenious at best, and much less than I would have expected from Mr. Sala whom I had previously viewed as having considerable credibility.

Samoan Pride wrote:
02 Nov 2009 12:49 PM

Instead of pointing your fingers, we as Samoans should find a solution to the problem. We(samoans) aren’t stereotyped as corrupt people. We need to let the world know that Samoans are respectful, religious and proud. CNN, they only care for the negativity of others and their ratings. There is always two sides to every story and this is the other side to it. And for you samoans who are staying off-island and left, we will continue to pray for you and that you will someday return home ragardless of the problems we are facing. More power to Mike Sala and the Governor Tulafono. Kudos to you!

Molly808 wrote:
02 Nov 2009 12:17 PM

Face the facts, American Samoa was a third world country BEFORE the tsunami. Come on, pig feces in the water, packs of wild dogs attacking people, beaches closed due to contamination, “ghost” employees with the ASG, these weren’t caused by the tsunami. American Samoa needs to clean up the corruption and expect its government workers to actually DO SOMETHING before it will not be regarded as strictly third world. Don’t waste any more money trying to attract tourists . . . they won’t be back and will spread the word to their friends about the wretched roads, unsafe public transportation and lack of safe drinking water here.

WE DON’T NEED AN EXPLANATION WE ALREADY KNOW THE TRUTH wrote:
02 Nov 2009 06:13 AM

PLEASE DONT EXPLAIN ANYTHING TO US SAMOANS LIVING HERE IN THE STATES. WE ALL KNOW WHAT HAPPENS BACK HOME, THATS WHY A LOT OF US LEFT IN THE FIRST PLACE. WE ARE SICK AND TIRED OF ALL THE LIES AND CORRUPTION. THE POINT BEHIND THE PICTURE OF A DEVASTATED VILLAGE IS THERE ARE NO GOVERNMENT WORKERS THERE HELPING OUT. WHERE ARE THEY ALL?

GOVERNMENT WORKERS ARE WORKING! wrote:
02 Nov 2009 06:48 PM

I am very disappointed that most of the people are judging the book by its cover. You do not know how hard these government workers are working 24/7 trying to clean up our island and for you to point your finger at us, not working…..i’m surprised that you have no support for us. The villages shown on CNN weren’t the only villages affected by the disaster so please, government workers have been there from Day 1 of the disaster and we spend restless days and nights trying to clean up as much as we can and for FYI, we too need a break. If you are unable to come down here and help with the recovery like other organizations and churches, then I suggest that you should continue to pray for our strength and courage to continue rebuilding our island. God Bless all of you and stay positive, Pau lava lea o le mea e lelei ai nei tagata, ua na’o le muimui ae leai ni fa’atinoga o ni alofa. E tago lava le isi Samoa ma toso i lalo le isi Samoa e aunoa ma se fesoasoani. Ia manuia la’asaga o lenei vaiaso, soifua manuia i le atu Samoa.

SATANI wrote:
02 Nov 2009 12:23 PM

A U.S tax payer lived and worked off island,(30+ yrs). Stop the finger pointing game and fix the problem,(Typical ASG officials). Corruptions in ASG existed for a very long time, (WHAT A SHAME). So, don’t acted surprise when CNN reported corruption within ASG. CNN just brought it out in the open for the whole world to know. I for one not even embarrassed by the CNN report. It just shed more light of what’s really going on within the government of Amerika Samoa, CORRUPTION. Thanks CNN!!

Maverick wrote:
02 Nov 2009 06:49 PM

Let me tell you something Mr.Sala, those 34 precious lives could have been saved if the Siren warning system was up and running, giving the public more ample time to escape to the higher grounds. You alluded to the fact that federal funds were not available, why couldn’t the ASG come up with their owned funds, and re-imburse the federal govt later ? If I was in charge of a safety agency, wouldn’t I be more concerned and be more aggressively getting funds for this project,knowing that lives and properties rely heavily on it, asap ? Wouldn’t you be more benevolence and reminded the administration and fono of how desirable this system may be put in place, instead of just kept kicking the can down the alley ? If I was in charge wouldn’t I be more concerned of implementing the system right away instead of waiting til later ? and yet there were so much monies being spent fraudulently, unnecessarily to other less important projects than the warning system ($200K for the heritage, and $3M for the districts). In light of all of these, and after careful considerations, no one in government and the fono thought of how most importantly this matter is ! And now how quickly he said, that they now have funds for it ? Well, Mike we’ll all wait and see ’til the FBI investigation concludes whether you/Governor or Birdie is telling the truth! one thing for sure someone/more would be responsible for this natural disaster in many ways was man-made tragedy.

Anonymous wrote:
01 Nov 2009 07:55 AM

To be honest with everybody I think all these people needs to be thrown in jail. But its not just the government’s fault, its the peoples fault, people of American Samoa, for electing these people to lead American Samoa. When election comes around, its all about family, vote for him cause we are related or whatever the reason. Its everbody’s fault after years that they knew that these same leaders are stealing, corrupt and whatever it is they are doing. And i won’t be surprise come next election these same crooks get elected again…

FILOMENA True loyal Samoan wrote:
31 Oct 2009 08:39 AM

Wow I think this is a crooked government I grew up with; bunch of liars and specially the government they got all they have and still steal from their own people. If it weren’t for the Tsunami we would have never known there was money donate to the goverment to install alarm systems; Look at it now there nothing being done and lots of hurt and pain and dying or nothing now; however the governor and his cronies are high and mighty in their comfort homes paid by the people of Samoa. Now we know where the real crooks live and they are not the foreignors like Togiola tells everyone.

Anonymous wrote:
02 Nov 2009 08:48 PM

Interesting how people, albeit Government Officials, go into immediate denial mode. What is really interesting is that these are the guys who are under investigation – a couple of them already indicted. Never mind the fact their innocence is yet to be proven because until then they are GUILTY of corruption and the sickening thing is they know they are GUILTY. The Tsunami has brought to the surface a lot of unsavory and unflattering facts about both Samoas, which most people were aware of but chose to look the other way. For those who addressed the problems and offered solutions were shunned and treated as troublemakers, or worse, were terminated from their government jobs. Perhaps it is the tragic loss of lives and the destruction of properties that has shifted peoples’ perspective from not questioning government to now wanting accountability and transparency.

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