Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — TAOA's hot meal program is resuming this week, beginning Wednesday (Jan 14, 2026), and continuing through Thursday (Jan 15, 2026) and Friday (Jan 16, 2026) at regular locations.

For Aunuu next week: the food distribution schedule will resume on the usual days.

For the rest of Tutuila: West Coast (Monday, Wednesday, Friday) East Coast (Tuesday, Thursday, Friday).

Samoa News understands the meal program has not been happening since December 2025 due to the participating food vendors not willing to continue because they had not being paid in a timely manner — with arrears of at least 3- 5 months. While partial payments have since been made, the government is also insisting that food vendors must fulfill their contractual obligations.

Samoa News was told that the current contracts for the food vendors run through May 2026, but, they currently have no legal assurance they will be paid in a timely manner. New contracts will allegedly have a “pay by” schedule included to avoid this type of issue, and the food vendors say they will ‘wait & see’.

Food vendors have long been frustrated with the delayed payments, saying they cannot afford, as small businesses, to carry the cost of goods, including the overheads to deliver the hot meals for the program for an unlimited amount of time. They also point to the hot meal program being fully funded by the federal government and don’t understand why the more than 45-day payment delay.