Governor Lemanu Peleti Mauga and the ASG malaga arrived safely from Swains Island close to noon yesterday, on the MV Manu’atele. 
The tired but happy travelers endured a 22-hour trip which wasn’t smooth sailing all the way.
The main purpose of the trip was to mark the 98th anniversary of the raising of the US flag on Swains island, which was held Saturday.
Not all of the people who went to Swains returned yesterday. Rep. Su’a Alexander Jennings and people of Swains island ancestry stayed back as they wanted to spend more time on the island. The Manu’atele is to return to Swains to bring them home in a couple of days.
The communications link that was set up by the advance group on Swains was dismantled but the group that’s left on the island has use of a satellite phone.
KHJ News understands that the administration has plans to slowly resettle people in Swains but, first, basic infrastructure and services have to be restored. In the early 1980’s there was still a hospital and school was still operating on the island.
Included in the future plans for Swains are an air strip for the island. An engineer from Port Administration was on the expedition to Swains for that purpose.
