A statement by Treasurer Ueligitone Tonumaipe’a at a House hearing last week that customs agents were not doing their job didn’t sit well with senior customs officers.
KHJ News was given information that it was because of the persistence of the customs division in reviewing the thru put of the Utulei tank farm against the fuel discharged by tankers that were in port which resulted in the $1.7 million payment from Pacific Energy which boosted ASG revenues over the $4 million mark in February.
According to sources who spoke with KHJ News, customs officer have been asking to gauge the tanks at the tank farm in order to verify the accuracy of the thruput.
This would have required staff to work after hours because the tanks are usually measured after hours. However because of the ban on overtime this was not possible.
Former customs agent, Rep Tupua Shaun had asked the Treasurer during a hearing on the biill to hike the petroleum storage fee by 2 cents if staff had a way of gauging the actual thruput of the tank farm so as to charge and collect the right amount of storage fees.
Treasurer Ueligitone Tonumapiea said staff are supposed to measure the thru put but they are not doing their work.
According to the sources who spoke with KHJ News, the statement was a blow to those customs officers who always put in a hard days work.
” The treasurer was throwing them under the bus but he should keep in mind that it wasn’t the Treasury experts who initiated and conducted the review,” they said.
“Senior customs officers haven’t been paid increments for years, and no overtime, and this is the thanks they get. It’s sad.”
