Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — After more than a decade of attempts, ASG now has access to $23 million in additional funding for the Tualauta drainage project.

This was confirmed by ASG in their newsletter released on Monday.

“The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) approved American Samoa's Community Development Block Grant — Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) Action Plan to fund the Tualauta drainage project.”

 With this approval, the territory now has full access to its $23 million allocation to address the impact of Tropical Storm Gita after a Presidential Disaster Declaration in February 2018.

Funds will be administered by the Dept. of Commerce (DOC) alongside its regular CDBG program.

In May this year, Taualuta Rep. Larry Sanitoa commended the administration’s efforts to provide infrastructure improvements to the most populous county in the territory.

However he cited pending Taualuta projects that still needed action — especially the Fagaima Road and Drainage project, the Tualauta Mitigation Project, and the Cost-U-Less road drainage project.

“I am very confident, that in the coming months, the details and the plans for these very critical and urgent projects for the largest and most populated district will soon be realized,” Sanitoa pointed out.

According to the government’s newsletter the intent of these funds is to build a robust drainage system not only to mitigate flooding hazards, but also protect homes and lives from future disasters.

According to ASG this Action Plan approval builds on HUD's partial consent from January 2021 that gave the territory access to $4.5 million of the funding.

Governor Lemanu P. S. Mauga says the government is truly grateful for this new funding opportunity to finally address the longstanding flooding issues within Tualauta.

The newsletter explains a HUD official visited American Samoa in July of this year to verify the need for the proposed project, which led to the Action Plan’s substantial amendment for HUD's review after completion of a 30-day public comment period.

 This project will be a collaboration between the Departments of Commerce, Public Works, and the Office of Disaster Assistance and Petroleum Management, according to the newsletter.