American Samoa

Todd Manley said after two devastating hurricanes in the Virgin Islands and a major distillery company packing up, the US territory in the Caribbean started looking for new industries to prop up its economy.

Mr Manley said ulu, or breadfruit, was identified as a potential new industry and found to be of high quality.

He said he was impressed with the product from Su'a Alexander Jennings' ulu operation.

Retailers are being reminded it's illegal to raise the price of certain consumer goods by 10 percent or more after the declaration of a state of emergency.

The territory's governor, Lolo Matalasi Moliga, declared a state of emergency last Friday as the devastating winds and heavy rain from Gita began impacting the main island of Tutuila.

Soon after this reports surfaced of price gouging at some stores.

The price gouging law requires businesses to provide proof a price rise is not "unfair".

Photo by Pacific Roots/Twitter

Yesterday US President Donald Trump approved an emergency declaration for the territory.

RNZI reports most of the shops in the capital of Pago Pago were closed or heavily damaged.

Nearly 800 people, including elderly and children, remained in emergency accommodation.

Schools will remain closed for the whole week.

Some of the evacuees may have to be moved into churches temporarily. 

Showers are forecast to continue today with the Department of Education cancelling school for a second day.

American Samoa Meteorologist Salu Malala Salu said the approaching depression was expected to intensify within the next 24 hours.

"There's a tropical depression ... and it's located about halfway between us and Fiji. Looking at the models, it should come near Savai'i and Upolu [in Samoa] late tonight," Mr Salu said.

Frank Barron has told a meeting in Pago Pago that the Parties to the Nauru Agreement and the Western and Central Pacific Fishery Commission are taking advantage of the fleet.

He said the entire US fleet is hurting and it needs support from the US government.

Mr Barron said through its vessel-day-scheme the Parties to the Nauru Agreement (PNA) can control the area being fished and the cost of admission.

The US National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration has announced a multi-year partnership with Liquid Robotics, a company owned by Boeing.

The NOAA said the robot, called the ocean glider, would conduct long-term environmental monitoring and surveillance of the underwater ecosystems.

It said it would help address critical long-term monitoring and data collection gaps that are not economically feasible with traditional research assets.

Photo: Public Domain

The cannery is shutting down from 21 October for the installation of new equipment and other upgrades, leaving 2,000 people out of work.

The drive is being organised by Tapumanaia Galu Satele and his family, who last year organized a toy drive at Christmas for the children of workers from Samoa Tuna Processors, who lost their jobs when the cannery closed.

Mr Tapumanaia has asked the public to donate nonperishable items.

The same day President Trump pulled out of the Paris Agreement, New York, California, and Washington announced the formation of the Alliance.

It aims to uphold United States commitments under the Paris Agreement, and to try and meet or exceed the Clean Power Plan, an Obama-era rule on power plant emissions.

As of last month, the Alliance had 15 members including Puerto Rico and now American Samoa has become a member.

The American Samoa Telecommunications Authority and Hawaii Submarine Cable have signed an amendment to their agreement for the installation of a cable connecting American Samoa to the Hawaiki cable, and the provision of international capacity to the mainland.

The Authority's executive director Puleleiite Liamatua Tufele Jr. says when the Hawaiki cable is launched the bandwidth capacity for American Samoa, currently at 10 gigabytes, will increase to 200 gigabits.

The Hawaiki cable system is expected to be in commercial service in June of next year.

Governor, Lolo Matalasi Moliga said the new single entry form eliminates the burden on travellers who were previously required to complete two or more forms upon arrival.

Lolo said it had been developed to combine all statutory requirements pertaining to Immigration, Customs, Quarantine, Health and Tourism.

He said the departure form had been designed to improve the collection of data on resident travellers, reasons for moving abroad and tourism to improve the visitor industry.

Photo: 123rf