The Port Administration will be hiking its monthly rental from $300 to $576 for the airport curio shops, as they have for the new tenants who were just awarded two vacant shops at the Pago Pago International Airport, said Special Assistant to the Director/Property Manager, Muliagatele Augustine ‘Gus’ Godinet.

In response to Samoa News queries over the weekend, Muliagatele said there are four shops with current leases with the Airport and they have been charged $300 monthly for over 15 years. He explained that over the years, the monthly rental for the airline offices at the Airport have increased, including the booths for the rental cars — yet the curio shop rents remained at $300 per month until now.

Asked as to the reason for the increase, Muliagatele explained that when the Federal Aviation Administration came to the territory recently to conduct an audit or inventory on all of the airport property and its usage in relationship to federal grant applications by the Port, they placed the market value for the airport at $1.50 per square foot.

He said “with the grants, the Port is applying for assurances, and if we’re applying for grants, we are going to need to meet these conditions — and one of these conditions is for everything on airport property to be fair market value.”

This matter came to light when Samoa News received complaints from the tenants at the Airport that their rent had been increased. However Muliagatele explained that the new rental fees have been implemented with the new tenants, given that the old tenant’s leases have yet to expire, and “once the lease expires, we will increase the monthly rent for that tenant.”

Samoa News asked if the Airport has banned the curio shops from selling plate lunches or hot food. Muliagatele explained that in the leases signed with the tenants, they are to sell gift items, handicrafts and others items, but not plate lunches or hot food.

“We have a restaurant here at the airport whose sole purpose is to serve food and we also have curio shops whose sole purpose is to sell gift items.” He pointed out that some curio shops are serving plate lunches, which are prepared from their homes and are sold out of the shops.

“The shops can continue to sell sandwiches, sodas, snacks or finger food but they are not supposed to be selling plate lunches. One curio shop appears as if it's a restaurant with the setting up of tables. That has to stop,” said Muliagatele.

He also made it clear that the new policy on selling plate lunches has nothing to do with the restaurant at the airport “as this issue was brought up in the past on several occasions" but with the new administration and new Airport Board in place "we are now implementing these new policies and enforcing them, as it is the right thing to do."