What people see is a new and modern power plant at Satala…but getting from September 29, 2009 to yesterday when the $56 million facility was dedicated took some innovative and unprecedented machinations…not only in terms of funding but also in acquiring some of the most sophisticated power generation equipment, tsunami and hurricane resistant materials and engineering, and staying within the parameters of procurement law.
Both the Executive Director of the American Samoa Power Authority Utu Abe Malae, chairman of the Board Fonoti Perelini Perelini and the representative of the main contractor Raymond Mardini spoke about this in their remarks at the opening ceremony yesterday.
ASPA Board Chairman Fonoti said the 24 megawatt power plant, was implemented under a public and private partnership and this was the solution for infrastructure projects of this magnitude.
With the completion of the two renewable energy projects in Tau and Ofu and the new power plant in Satala, ASPA will not turn its attention to Tutuila.
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The ASPA board chairman says the advantages of a public private partnership are transparency…all information is on the table, there’s a sharing of resources and the government has a say in the development of the project, and 3 there’s a collaboration wherein the government makes input rather than private contractors taking the lead.
