There’s a sense of urgency for government departments to complete paperwork for their Gita-related projects.
According to Director of Homeland Security, Samana Semo Ve’ave’a, there’s still a lot of work remaining for documentation and supporting paper work for requests to FEMA.
He said this should all be completed before the final FEMA official leave the territory.
Lt. Governor Lemanu Peleti Mauga had said at the last cabinet meeting that directors should have all of their applications completed before the FEMA reps leave the territory as they are the ones familiar with Gita projects and have seen the local situation versus new officials at the FEMA offices who have never been here.
So far FEMA has awarded a total of $451,835 in public assistance.
This is separate from the early $19 million that FEMA has granted for individual assistance which covers losses and damages for housing and contents.
There are 9 categories for public assistance and the FEMA awards approved so far for Gita cover two.
For Category A which is debris removal, FEMA has approved $163,767.08.
And for Category B which is protective measures FEMA has approved two awards, one is for $259,346.10 and the second one is for $28,722.04.
FEMA Information Officer Billy Penn says, FEMA obligates the funding to the grantee, ASG.
If there are sub-grantees, ASG transfers the payment to them. Much of the funding is obligated as work is completed; although some is obligated up-front.
