2017-04-17 Public Testimony on SMA 16-063 Contested Case

Home

you’ve got to follow the money. And unfortunately, I do not believe that should be a priority here, but I believe that unfortunately it is. On another note we can look at rather mundane infrastructure issues. We know that this project was planned for the larger highway and we know that Ali‘i Drive cannot carry the same capacity. So it’s already kind of backing off and going into a second-, an insufficient, or will create hardship for everybody, if not risk. And lastly, we know that there is global warming. We know that sooner or later, actually, Ali‘i Drive may be challenged for its very existence. But on the waterfront we know we are experiencing salinization of our water. We know that it takes decades to recharge our aquifer. We are reassured by people who honestly can’t reassure us that we have plenty of water, but the lens in Kona is very small. With decades to recharge and having a drought, how can, and we know that there’s salinization already, how do we know that can, we can even support an added development within this aquifer? And lastly, do the people who are making this development care about any of these concerns? Thank you for your time. CHAD VILLARIN: All right, yeah, thank you for having me here, and thank you everybody for coming and showing your support. I may not be a Hawaiian or of Hawaiian ancestry, or I mean of lineage, but being born and raised on the island I highly appreciate the Hawaiian culture and I guess what it does for people here. And my main concern is with the ocean and, because I was growing up on the rocks over there and it’s taught me a lot about who I am and, you know, still teaches me to this day, so. I have a kid just been born, about one month old, and when I hear that there is this huge construction property and all the stuff that’s going to be going on, it kind of makes me wonder if he’s going to have the same kind of childhood as I had. So, yeah, I’m just, I don’t understand, as all these signs being popped up in the media, you know, the newspaper we read and stuff that all these signs are pointing to obviously that there’s too much, you know, people, whatever you want to say that, like, they say that infrastructure can’t handle it, is why we are pushing so hard to just develop and keep developing. And, it’s, that’s what makes Hawai‘i so beautiful is the land and, you know what I mean, not the buildings. O‘ahu is a prime example of that, you know; it’s a beautiful island but, you know, the skyline and stuff just, just, you know, I’m not saying it shouldn’t be there but it does alter what Hawai‘i is. So, I don’t know, the cultural significance of the land is just too much to look away from and to just build on, so I think we should just really consider that. But, yeah, thank you. BLOSOM PUA BARAIUS: My name is Blosom Baraius. I born and raised in Hōnaunau, Ke‘ei, Nāpo‘opo‘o. But I had a grandma – the man over there, Richard, he’s my family, and this lady here is my family. But every morning, every afternoon, I go and check the ‘āina. I go to the Old Airport, I go to the small place and I go to Magic and Kahalu‘u. He always being in Kahalu‘u. I always like to keep the ‘āina clean because I, my cousin, and the burial place is so terrible. You guys think about all kind of places, but mostly you guys think of money – money here, money there. What reason is for the ‘āina for being, supposed to be clean, not kāpulu. People, that’s why my community’s family to have one another, to understand one another, and Kahalu‘u Beach that’s where my family is, too. What’s wrong with people that cannot keep Kahalu‘u place clean, the Old Airport clean, and Magic? So everywhere I go I see some families fighting or drinking and getting silly and not listening what’s supposed to be done. The ‘āina supposed to be clean. 6 2017-04-17 Public Testimony on SMA 16-063 Contested Case