Government workers in America Samoa are being forced to work in a rat-infested environment.
Despite been condemned by the American Samoa Health Department due to unsafe conditions, including large rats roaming around, the government's main three-story, Executive Office Building (EOB) is still been used.
When beech trees flower and produce large amounts of seed it provides food for pests such as rats. Photo: 123RF
Samoa News reports a health inspector has told lawmakers that the building - which houses the majority of government departments - has twice been visited by Health Inspectors.
But health director Motusa Tuileama Nua said he was instructed by the governor, Lemanu Peleti Mauga, to advise his Inspectors not to pay any more visits to the building, but instead to let him and his Chief of Staff come up with a plan on how to resolve it.
House Vice Speaker, Fetu Fetui Junior, said he saw large rats running around the building during a visit.
The governor has not commented about the building.
Rats seen by employees and visitors to the executive office building is not a new problem, despite efforts over the years to get rid of the rodents.
In 2019, tax office employees were dismissed from the first floor of the EOB due to the unbearable smell of dead rats.