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LONGAKIT:Okay. Anyway, let me read this letter.
<br />My name is Franco Longakit and I am in support of this project by Hawaiian Island
<br />Development Company.
<br />I used to work for Kau Sugar and am now retired. Ever since the plantation shut down, the
<br />town of Pahala has been suffering. People have to travel so far away from, all the way to
<br />Waikoloa and on the north side of our island or Hilo. Okay.
<br />The developer, Peter Savio, is working with the Pahala community on this project. The project
<br />will be good for the future of Pahala for jobs and for the families in the town. The project is on
<br />land which used to be owned by C. Brewer. The former cane lands will now be available to us
<br />former workers to own and farm. This is something that has never been done before. In the past,
<br />ifthelandwassold,wecouldnotaffordtobuyit.Onlythosefromtheoutsidecouldbuythe
<br />land. This project gives us a chance to own our land and to leave something to our families. The
<br />land can be farmed which is good. The farmed land can provide for jobs for the people in Pahala
<br />so that they do not have to drive to and from work.
<br />Thank you for this opportunity to testify and I hope you support this project.
<br />Id like to add a little bit outside of this letter. I was born and raised here 75 years ago. Okay, I
<br />worked for the sugar company. My dad used to also, you know, in the early 30s up until when
<br />he retired. And as the, you know, growing up in this camp I havent seen any development real
<br />big. Can you imagine people, yeah, theyve got to wake up 3:45 in the morning to go to work in
<br />Waikoloa from here, and this is daily, you know, commuting daily, and to Hilo, which is
<br />something like 54 miles away from us. Were in the middle of nowhere in Pahala.
<br />Developments like this is going to enhance other developers to come into the community and,
<br />you know, make this place something that people can stay home and work. June is coming
<br />around the corner. How many people, students are going to come out from school, where are
<br />they going to go? You know, some time ago, some years ago Pahala when the sugar company
<br />was in full swing, we had about 9 or 10, almost 10,000 residents here in Pahala alone. Today,
<br />the latest census that I read in the paper a few days ago 1900. Can you imagine that? Why?
<br />Because theres no jobs here. Our kids come out from school, during the evening hours theres
<br />no, nothing for them to do. If you live in Hilo or in Kona, you can go to the, those children, kids
<br />can go to the bowling alley, sit in a restaurant and, you know, go to the movies. Theres no
<br />theaters here. All they got is tv. Good thing they invented tv. Whoever that was, I really
<br />appreciate what he did. So, and then, in the end, to cut my topic short I just wanted to let you
<br />folks to know the farmer, coffee farmers are doing real good; and if they can do this other people
<br />can do so if given the opportunity to own land. So, please, give this your full consideration, your
<br />full consideration, and lets be able to see this community grow. Thank you very much.
<br />ALAMEDA:Thank you, Mr. Longakit. Any questions for the testifier? Okay, could
<br />you please state your name and address.
<br />REPLOGLE:My name is John Replogle and I live in Kau, Ocean View. I grew up
<br />here. I would like to, I wrote something that Ill read, and I know you can all read, too. But Id
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