The Governor of American Samoa has indicated that a reduction in hours for locally funded government employees could be imminent.
In a weekly radio broadcast, Togiola Tulafono has said the government cannot continue to carry its financial burden and he may have no choice but to reduce hours from the second pay period for February.
He says he must make a decision soon if the legislature does not act on measures already submitted to help generate revenue and cut costs.
Our correspondent Monica Miller says the Governor's comments may be a ploy to push the fono into taking action
"I think he is sort of exerting a little bit of pressure on the legislature, and it will be interesting to see what the legislature's reaction is going to be, because judging from the requests that they've made it doesn't look like they are in a hurry to pass these bills."
Monica Miller says the fono is expected to react later this week, as sessions have been cancelled for today and tomorrow because of heavy rain and strong winds.
