American Samoa's Governor, Togiola Tulafono, says those people whose applications for disaster unemployment assistance have been approved can expect their first cheques within a week.
The deadline to apply for disaster unemployment assistance was December 17 and 264 applications have now been approved, with nearly 1500 applications received.
The Governor says there were some discrepancies with the immigration status of some applicants and these are being reviewed.
The Disaster Unemployment Programme compensates those who lost their jobs as a direct result of the September 29th earthquake and tsunami.
