Governor Lolo Matalasi Moliga was not joking when he told his cabinet members that the American Samoa Government would not be paying for their Christmas parties during the recent holiday season.

Samoa News has received complaints by members of the private sector claiming that, although it is now February 2015, the Christmas parties hosted by some of the departments have yet to be paid.

This was confirmed by Treasurer Ueligatone Tonumaipe’a who said the American Samoa Government would not pay for the Christmas parties that each department held during the holidays.

“There are a lot of Christmas parties, and the departments and agencies were informed that ASG funding will not be used to pay for the parties of the government,” he said.

Asked if this was the first time the department and agency parties were not being paid by the government, Tonumaipe’a told Samoa News that it was never a practice in the past for the government employees to hold parties at restaurants and then bill the government.

“We don’t pay for Christmas parties for the departments … they pay for their own parties, if they want to have it at a fancy restaurant.”

Samoa News received calls last week from some of the restaurants where ASG departments and agencies held their holiday parties, complaining because they have not yet been paid.

During the last Cabinet meeting for 2014, Governor Lolo informed the cabinet members that ASG would not pay for their parties.  He told them that they should hold potlucks, because the government’s funding will not be allocated for parties, which included food and drinks.

One of the vendors said that when they called to follow up on the payment, they were referred to the governor’s office. “Now, they give me the run around, after they had a party at my place of business.”

The governor’s executive assistant, Iulogologo Joseph Pereira told Samoa News that it’s news to him that certain departments are referring the matter to the governor’s office, even though the department is the one who owes the vendors money for their parties.

Samoa News understands that one ASG department owes an outstanding bill of close to $3,000 to a restaurant in the Tualauta District. To another vendor, a little over $2,000 is owed for one of the government’s holiday parties.