Radio New Zealand - Te Reo Irirangi o Aotearoa

American Samoa govt has to ensure donations are not misspent says ngo

Posted at 22:49 on 20 November, 2009 UTC

The American Samoa watchdog group, Common Cause, says the Government has to ensure donations intended for the tsunami victims are not misspent.

Common Cause also says the Government should make a single monetary gift to the families of those who died in the tsunami.

Common Cause’s president, Dr Trudie Iuli Sala, has asked the Government’s Authorised Representative, Evelyn Vaitaitolu Langford, for an online accounting of how the Government has distributed the donations.

She says the donations are to help the disaster victims and the families of those who died and cannot be used to meet personnel costs, Government renovations and village recovery projects.

Dr Sala says any money left over should go to the local Red Cross.

She also says the Government remedy its failure to help the victims or their families with a monetary contribution to the spouse, children or parent of each of the deceased victims.