Vendors providing meals for elderly citizens are still waiting for payments which were due in December from the Territorial Administration on Aging Office for the Hot Meal program.
According to TAOA Director Ale Tifimalae their office just sent off on Tuesday a report that their federal grantor required as justification of a drawdown to pay the hot meal program vendors.
Ale told KHJ News TAOA met with vendors this week to give them an update of what’s causing the delay in paying for their services.
The director says he assured the vendors money has already been allocated to pay them ,
He indicated however that a correction needed to be made to the report that the grantor required and this was one of the reasons for the delay in paying the vendors.
Two vendors who alerted KHJ News about their situation said the agency was supposed to provide the report for justification of the drawdown in December.
However staff responsible for the report took leave for the holidays without filing the reports. As a result the drawdown of federal grants to pay for the hot meal program were not submitted on time.
Some vendors say TAOA owes them more than $50,000 and they are struggling to buy supplies and pay cooks.
The businesses wont stop serving meals to senior citizens until they get paid because they said it will deprive the elderly.
TAOA Director Ale says he’s hoping to have an answer from the US Department of Health and Human Services,, their federal grantor in a matter of days.
