Help Keaukaha
Help Keaukaha
Regarding Kalanianaole Avenue improvement bonds: I just wanted to address the comment made by my district councilman, Dennis Onishi, regarding his hope to have funding that will improve Kalanianaole Avenue near the harbor to make it more “tourist-friendly,” because arriving visitors on cruise ships must navigate a dangerous stretch of roadway to make the short walk from the harbor to downtown.
They are “day trippers” and spend their time at Walmart and the volcano. My families were the residents and occupants of Keaukaha before the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands. It seems that there was no concern for those who have had to endure this dangerous stretch for many years, as well as the development that has encroached on the lives of my family in the past and present.
Thanks to council members in the past, who literally shoved the sewage plant down our throats, not even servicing the community it was placed near. My grandmother stood protesting the decision-makers years ago, begging county officials not to do this to the families in this area, and today we still smell the stench and experience floating feces in beach areas. We know when there is a leak in the pipes outside of our beaches.
The airport runway and the increase in air traffic — larger jets and toxic fumes — plague our community, as well as the obnoxious sounds, nonstop, during the day and night.
My children attending the schools in our community have had their windows and doors shut, using air-conditioning because of the noise. They wore heavy coats every day because it was so cold in their classrooms.
Use the funding to do a health study! My family lives on the fence line of the airport runway, along with other families. That was also shoved down our throats.
Gas and oil storage tanks with toxic fumes abutt my community. We have had problems with them and their equipment during evacuation periods.
Maybe you could do a health study with those bonds to see if these concerns actually impact my community. Shouldn’t this be your concern, Mr. Onishi and DHHL, or are your concerns only for votes?
You might find that the results of the health studies may intrigue you enough to make you pay more attention to the fiduciary responsibilities that come with your position.
If I am not mistaken, more recently the council and Mayor Billy Kenoi proposed the incinerator project in my Hawaiian community. The sad thing about this is that it took non-Hawaiians to question the impacts this project would have had on a native community. What was the DHHL’s input on the subject?
There seems to be no voice for the Hawaiians who live in Keaukaha, and no one is looking out for the safety of our children’s future.
Keaukaha is the only community living between these two hazards in the State of Hawaii. Is this racial profiling and gross neglect of our government officials? Call it what you want, but the facts are evident.
Terri L. Napeahi
Hawaiian Homes resident, Keaukaha
Science not ‘ludicrous’
Just some thoughts about the Thirty Meter Telescope controversy. First, I find it amazing that over 50,000 people signed a petition against building the telescope, claiming it was defiling the sacred mountain and desecrating the sacred place.
Why aren’t these 50,000-plus people saying anything about the military camp up in Pohakuloa? Hasn’t the U.S. military been out there desecrating the sacred ‘aina for a really long time now? Is it that much less sacred than the top of Mauna Kea?
And even more disturbing is that so many people are against the scientific discovery that the TMT would give us, with someone even claiming that looking back in time at far away stars was “ludicrous.” Sorry, but scientific fact is not ludicrous.
Calling something sacred is pretty much a matter of opinion. Science is based on the facts. The original inhabitants came here with the help of these stars, finding a beautiful paradise directly under the star Hokuleʻa.
They would have loved to know what the stars they saw were made of, and how so very far away they where. Why can’t Mauna Kea be called the sacred mountain of the telescopes?
David Maloney
Keaau
Volcano dump
The improvement work on the Volcano Transfer Station has just started, and we are already seeing progress!
The transfer bins are now open 24/7! Wonder how long that will last.
Fred Fogel
Volcano