28 Jan 2009

American Samoa lawmakers concerned over audit of Govt accounts

8:10 pm on 28 January 2009

Lawmakers in American Samoa are concerned that the most recent audit of the government accounts shows education money was spent elsewhere.

The government financial statement for 2007's fiscal year shows an overspend of seven million US dollars.

The total money actually overspent was higher, but this was off set by an underspend on education and cultural activities of 3.2 million US dollars.

Our correspondent in Pago Pago, Monica Miller says the information has sparked indignation:

"It comes as a surprise that this money was there and was not spent for the purpose which it was approved for, when we know the need for classrooms the need for school supplies and school buses has been there becuase of the rise in population each year."

The auditors have only issued a qualified statement on the government's accounts saying they were not satisfied with all the information they were given.