August 19, 2007 - On June 6, 2007, the Development Bank of American Samoa (DBAS) received $13,200 in grant money from the Department of Interior (DOI) to strengthen its institutional capacity in trade and advocacy associations.
DBAS president Utu Abe Malae explained that the grant fund is being used to pay for the bank’s membership in key regional and advocacy organizations such as National Association of Development Organizations (NADO), Association of Development Financing Institutions of the Pacific (ADFIP), and Association of Development Financing Institutions of Asia and the Pacific (ADFIAP).
“When you participate in the annual general meetings or training offered by these kinds of organizations, you can come upon serendipitous information or meet individuals who are not only fascinating in their own right, but can help the bank in areas you never thought about before,” said Utu via an email correspondent. “The key is to participate and look for fresh ideas, and then implement these good ideas when you get home.”
Earlier this year on March 6, DBAS received $85,000 under the Procurement of Audit Services to assist with the production of audited financial statements for
FY2006 for submission to U.S. federal agencies and the American Samoa Government.
This particular grant fund helped pay for the 2006 single audit of the bank, which was completed in March
2007 for the 2006 year ending in December 31, 2006.
“This audit was on-time and unqualified, and I am thankful to Governor Togiola and DOI for helping us even though we were in competition with other important grant applications in the works,” Utu said.
A month before that, on February 27, DBAS received $170,000 for the Implementation of the Geographic Information System (GIS) for American Samoa.
According to Utu, this grant fund helps pay for a 24-month GIS project that will allow the bank to check the surveys of existing real estate used as collateral for loans, as well as for new loan applications.
“There were just too many errors in the land surveys resulting in some absurd situations, not to mention the waste of money customers spent on such spurious land surveys,” Utu explained, adding that an example of an “absurd situation” is a survey that locates a home in a stream bed, the road, or in the ocean.
“This will continue to be a great service to our community. Imagine having a high level of confidence in all the surveys that are registered at the Territorial Registrar’s Office,” he added.
Utu said that the GIS project will develop into a much larger project in a year’s time, “as our people come to realize the absolute waste of money, time, and the heartache of unnecessary litigation or worse, that had resulted from spurious surveys.”
DOI funding is not an annual freebie. Instead, Utu said that new applications must be submitted each year and there is competition against others who apply. |
