More than 50 off island delegates will be attending the US Coral Reef Task Force Meeting which American Samoa is hosting next week.
Prior to the opening on Tuesday, there will be meetings of various working groups that will draw up recommendations for the Task Force to review on Monday.
Some of the delegates are arriving tonight because they want to see some of the territory’s corals before the start of the conference.
Director of Marine and Wildlife Resources Vaamua Henry Sesepasara who chairs a local host committee for the conference says they are chartering a plane to take this advance group to Manu’a tomorrow.
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The majority of the delegates for the meeting will be arriving Monday night.
An ava ceremony is set for Tuesday morning at the ASG guest house in Utulei and the conference will open at 9 at the Lee Auditorium.
The theme of the conference is Natural Infrastructure, building capacity and disaster preparedness.
The DMWR Director said they have contracted the Sosiaete o Faafafine o Amerika Samao (SOFIAS) to execute the plan for hosting this important meeting and asked that Treasury speed up the processing of the contract payment.
Among the US officials attending are Deana Funderburk, Deputy Assistant Secretary of the US Army, Michael Stoker, Region 9 Administrator of the US Environmental Protection Agency, Steven Tucker, Deputy Chief for Marine Protected Resources, Patricia Montanio, Director of Habitat Conservation and Nikolao Pula, Director fo the Office of Insular Affairs.
Director of Administrative Services Malaepule Fuega Moliga inquired if there would be any opportunity for district and village authorities to make input on some of the discussions of the conference.
Hearing that some important decision makers from DC will be here, he felt that this was a good opportunity for them to hear local views .
Vaamua pointed out that the excursion to Manu’a was purely for sightseeing and there were no meetings planned.
The conference agenda does include a business meeting on the final day, Thursday, August 16 and this is the open forum where members of the public can address the conference. The business meeting is all day from 8am to 5pm.
Governor Lolo Moliga asked that they focus on hosting the meeting and they will not interfere with the task force agenda. But any concerns arising from the meeting can be taken up separately.
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