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Chairman, it is so imperative to that question, that I really tell you what this issue is, very
<br />briefly, because it will show you that Malama Market has in fact, what I did was not in
<br />the best interest of Malama Market. It actually hurts Malama Market, and that's what I
<br />wanted to show you, Mr. Chairman, if I could. It will be very brief. But it's directly to
<br />the question by Mr. Cadaoas Mr. Cadaoas ? --
<br />CADAOAS: - -Yes
<br />YAGONG: --Mr. Cadaoas bringing forth, because he's actually saying that there is a
<br />conflict of interest. It's so important for me to be able to tell the commissioners that
<br />when you take a look at the whole issue, and it's in your map but it's probably easier if
<br />you just look at this here, the whole issue is based on Highway 130, and I don't have to
<br />tell you that Highway 130 is one of the most dangerous roads in the state of Hawai `i. If
<br />you take a look at this section here, this is where Highway 130 meets the entrance to
<br />Malama Market. In order to go to Malama Market, you have to take a left or right in to
<br />this intersection to be able to go to the shopping center that has Malama Market.
<br />Malama Market only has one entrance to be able to go to that shopping center, only one.
<br />My contention on the Bill 283 was for the developer to build this right in, right out off of
<br />Highway 130 so that it'll alleviate the traffic off this intersection. By the way, of the ten
<br />most dangerous intersections in the state of Hawai `i, this is listed in the top three, this
<br />intersection here. So what we're trying to do was to make sure, before the applicant
<br />occupied the building, that we would actually have it in writing. What I meant was to
<br />have them have a certificate to get a certificate of occupancy, this safety improvement
<br />would have to be made. The problem and the reason for that was to be able to make it
<br />safer this is what the community was actually screaming for. But here 's to Mr.
<br />Cadaoas' question, commissioners, by advocating for the right in, right out, what that
<br />does is, it actually diverts traffic away from the only entrance to Malama Market. When
<br />you divert traffic away from a business, away from the area, you don't help them. It's
<br />like Hdmdkua Coast, when you had the old road that went through Pepe `ekeo and
<br />`O `okala and Laupdhoehoe, but you had all these small businesses along the way, then
<br />we built a highway through. All the businesses died, why? Because you diverted traffic
<br />away from the business. This decision or my action that I took had nothing to do with
<br />Malama. If I wanted to protect Malama, I would have never advocated for the right in,
<br />right out. Because this would make it safer for the people and by the way, not only for
<br />the people, but for the developer. Commissioners, I don't know if you folks know this, but
<br />in the end, when the final bill came out, I voted yes for the application. I don't want to
<br />assume that you folks knew that, but I did vote yes. And the reason I voted yes was at the
<br />last hearing, the developer told us, along with the State Department of Transportation,
<br />that the contractor was willing to work day and night to complete this before Long's
<br />opened. And just to let you folks know, although my amendment failed to have this done
<br />before they occupied the building, the construction was done before Long's opened up.
<br />They did exactly what I asked them to do, simply because it was the right thing to do, not
<br />to benefit Malama but to benefit the businesses there. In order to get to their without
<br />this right in, right out, in order to get to their shopping center, they would have to come
<br />to Malama and take this turn here. Long's couldn't even get a 40 foot container through
<br />this here without doing one of those zig -zag and trying to get in. They knew they had to
<br />get this opened to get their containers into their center. It benefited everybody. Most of
<br />all, it benefited the people of Puna, to make it safer at the most dangerous intersection in
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