Territory
is on its own to patch up airport road before Arts Fest
by Fili Sagapolutele
Samoa News Correspondent
ASG will have
to come up with local revenue to patch up the deteriorating Nu'uuli-Airport
road because the Federal Highway Administration does not have
funding for a temporary fix in time for the 10th Pacific Arts
Festival, set for July 20-Aug. 2.
This was the
testimony from Public Works Department director Taeaotui Punaofo
Tilei and Pat Phung, the Federal Highway's representative for
American Samoa before the Senate Public Works Committee hearing
on Thursday.
Phung returned
to Honolulu, where he is based, Thursday night after a visit
to the territory to discuss local federal highway projects with
ASG officials and was asked by Senate President Lolo M. Moliga
to address the Senate on the status of local federal highway
funded projects.
With the federally
funded Avau/Nu'uuli to airport road project completed, there
have been calls from the Fono for the federal government to do
the same for the Nu'uuli-Airport road.
Taeaotui said
ASG had asked the federal highway for permission to use a portion
of federal funding earmarked for other local projects to resurface
the Nu'uuli-Airport road but was informed that the money should
be used for other urgent projects.
Senators were
informed that the airport road is a major reconstruction project
planned to commence next year and a resurfacing would cost more
than $2 million. And if that amount of money is used for this
road, it would be a waste because it will be dug up again when
the reconstruction project gets underway next year.
Taeaotui said
the design is 50 percent complete and the reconstruction of the
road calls for three lanes from the Nu'uuli/Airport intersection
to the Triple SSS gas station and from that point to the turn
off to Procurement Office, the road will be four lanes. It will
revert back to three lanes from the procurement turn-off to the
airport.
He said a meeting
with landowners along the road was to be held this week to discuss
several issues that need to be addressed.
Phung acknowledged
concerns raised by senators about the current condition of the
road, but he said resurfacing the road is not going to solve
the problem. "We need to do it right the first time,"
he said.
According to
the federal official, it's unwise to spend so much money on resurfacing
the airport road, only to have it replaced when the new road
is built. He said the Airport road construction project will
be addressing long standing complaints about congestion at the
intersections.
Taeaotui said
the best ASG can do for now before the Arts Festival, is a patch
up job.
Reach the
reporter at fili@samoanews.com
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