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“JACK OF ALL TRADES, MASTER OF NONE!”

Dear Editor,

While the flash and flare of the opening ceremony for TBAS was displayed throughout American Samoa, Utu Abe Malae proves once again why he is a Political chameleon and RINO at best.

First, yes Utu the people of American Samoa knows what FDIC entails, yet for some reason your condescending comments shows a lack of foresight and professionalism from a Chairman of the PEOPLES bank.

Second, to quote President Reagan, " The problem with America is the that People look to the Government for Solutions, yet Government is the PROBLEM!

I guess Utu forgot about Reagan while trumping for Trump at the Convention. ASG has no business in the Banking business. This bank should have been a Private sector endeavor with minimal ASG subsidies, yet the Governor and his cronies decided to GAMBLE our future on the premise that ASG can run and operate a bank. To quote Chris Berman, "Come On Man"!

Third, Utu quoted a paper by the Wharton Financial Institutions Center on Foreign Banks in the Pacific: Some History and Policy Issues, Adrian E. Tschoegl, concluded:  “…the device of creating government-owned banks has been less successful …as most have succumbed to scandals of mismanagement, looting, and cronyism.”

Really Utu? You were pointing to Amerika Samoa Bank as an example, yet ASB was a private sector bank not an ASG institution. You know what was an ASG institution? American Samoa Government Federal Credit Union and The Development Bank. What happened to the Credit Union again? Oh yeah, it went under because of mismanagement and corruption, and let's not bring up Development Bank and the 1602 rackets who were ran by our Tama ole Atunuu.

While having a bank to serve our people is needed, you can't fault the Governor for pulling the trigger on TBAS. ANZ has been a disgrace and to still have this bank operate in American Samoa is a slap in the face.

The Private sector should have been afforded an opportunity to move forward but I have a feeling some folks in the Fono and the Governor’s Office found an opportunity to again fleece the hard working people while Jack and his cronies enjoy a lavish lifestyle and a very good salary while sipping on their Sangria.

Fred Ledoux

(Editor’s Note: Utu was not referring to the privately-owned Amerika Samoa Bank (ASB), it was the American Samoa Bank — which was government owned and run, and was replaced by the Bank of Hawaii almost 50 years ago. ra)