In October 2007, the Development Bank of American Samoa (DBAS) began a new endeavor to assist the Territorial Registrar’s office (TRO) automating its records.  The ultimate goal in this effort is to link the GIS database at DBAS (a DOI funded project) with property records at TRO.  To facilitate this goal, DBAS has contributed PCs, software applications and extensive staff time to create a database for TRO, train TRO staff to maintain and improve this database and ultimately to complete the records with accurate and precise information on land parcel boundaries (from the DBAS GIS database).  The new computerized TRO database will create a reliable source of information and could help the American Samoa community avoid potentially costly and protracted court cases.

The initial phase of this project included donation of staff time, and two PCs with application software, to create and maintain a database, DBAS staff assisted TRO management to convert the first of nine database libraries, “Native Land Titles” into a Microsoft Access database and trained its staff to add, delete and modify records. DBAS resources are committed to automation of all nine TRO libraries (Native Land Titles, Land Transfers & Individually Owned Land, Lease Agreements/ Communal Land Leases, Government Lands & Leases, Separation Agreements, Matai Titles, Corporations, General Miscellaneous and House Leases).   The information is currently kept in log books and some of the older books are so brittle that they are best suited for archival preservation and not daily use.  The future phases of this project include donation of a printer, training of staff printing reports and scanning the old documents so they can be accessed electronically with the originals archivally preserved as historical documents.  These databases will be created in Microsoft Access format which can be converted to any Windows-compatible application.  Funding for a new TRO archival system is expected to be available in the near future.

Please check the DBAS website (http://www.dbas.org) periodically for updates to this section.