Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — Lt. Gov. Lemanu Palepoi Sialega Mauga is calling on all residents of American Samoa — from all sectors — to work collaboratively in the upcoming 2020 Census for American Samoa.

Speaking at Wednesday’s official opening ceremony for the US Census Office in the territory, Lemanu urged the bringing in of “key leaders” of various ethnic groups in the territory, as well as their translators, to ensure full understanding of the census.

“The census data that we will be collecting is critical for many reasons. Bottom line is, numbers drive resources,” Lemanu told the audience at the Tauese P.F. Sunia Ocean Center during the ceremony, although the local Census office is located — and was opened yesterday — on the second floor of the Lumana’i Building in Fagatogo.

Lemanu said the majority of federal funds given to American Samoa are through what’s called “formula grants” — based on population count.

Additionally, the US Treasury Department distributes billions of dollars in federal funds “based on the numbers that we will provide... from the census.” American Samoa’s population following the 2010 census — officially released in August 2011 — totaled 55,519.

For FY 2015, Lemanu said American Samoa received over $157 million in federal grants compared to $243 million received in FY 2005 — partly based on the 2000 Census count that noted a population of more than 57,000.

He said there are many uses of the census and “it’s very important that we do this right.”

To everyone in the territory, “please cooperate with our Census Office and staff” when the time comes for the census-count to begin — early next year. “We will have to live with the numbers that we get after the 2020 census.”

Lemanu explained that he met Tuesday with three officials of the US Census Bureau currently on island, and asked them to consider American Samoans living off island, including those in the US Armed Forces, students, church ministers, and federal employees who claim American Samoa as their home of record.

“We need to take a good look at those [individuals],” he said, but didn’t elaborate on what the Census officials told him.

Speaking to those living in “fear because of their immigration status”, Lemanu said the “census collection of those living in American Samoa is protected by federal law. The only people who can see your census information are those that are working in the office.” He explained the federal penalty for violating the “confidentiality” of responses on the census form — a fine and jail time of up to 5 years. “So those who will be selected to work, to do this job with the census, keep that in mind,” he said.

Lemanu emphasized that the “counting of the population is not for us to find out who is living in American Samoa illegally. That’s not the purpose of the census. The purpose… is to find out how many [people] are living in American Samoa.”

“It doesn't matter if you’re here legally or illegally. So please keep that in mind as we move forward in this,” he continued. “If people are hiding, guess what? We’re not going to get the resources needed. But if you come forward and be counted, we’ll get the resources and the government can better serve the people of American Samoa,” he said. “The bottom line is the numbers.”

“We must build a solid foundation to move forward,” he said. “We need to translate so everybody understands the purpose of the census. Bring in Chinese, Korean, and Filipino interpreters. Bring in the key leaders of those ethnic groups.”

ASG Commerce Department director, Keniseli Lafaele echoed Lemanu’s call for the territory to work together in the 2020 census. He thanked the Office of Samoan Affairs for their support, which he says is needed when enumerators head out to villages to work with pulenuu. He also thanked the governor’s cabinet members for their ongoing support.

Present at the ceremony yesterday were three US Census Bureau officials. Samoa News will report tomorrow on their comments.