Governor feels review of ASVB is needed

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For the past few years, the budget of the American Samoa Visitors Bureau has received strong scrutiny during annual budget hearings at the Fono.

At yesterday’s cabinet meeting the governor said that one reason for this is because the Fono and the public aren’t seeing results from the bureau.

Governor Lolo Moliga suggested that those in charge of the Visitors Bureau sit down and review the effectiveness of this agency.

He said members of the public and Fono leaders are questioning the work of the ASVB as they feel the functions of the bureau may be in conflict with that of other departments like the Department of Commerce.

Lolo’s comments came after the Acting Director of the ASVB Vaitoa Hans Langkilde gave a report of the bureau’s activities at the cabinet meeting, centering on clean up efforts and the national park’s clamp down on dumping of trash in national park areas. 

The governor said the Bureau’s annual funding receives heavy scrutiny from the Fono and from what he’s gathered from previous budget hearings, the questions are not targeted to the operations of the Bureau but rather the people who work there.

It’s the governor’s opinion that the reason why funding for the bureau is continually questioned is because people are not seeing results.

He said a review of the Visitors Bureau was necessary to ascertain what changes are needed or whether there should be reductions or deletions in the structure of the bureau.

The governor  also asked for  suggestions from the cabinet  on what’s needed for the Visitors Bureau taking into consideration some of the concerns that have been expressed about the agency.