HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0875.006 2022-2024 P /Council
Res.518-2y
CAMM. g1
From: George Douvris COUNTY CLERIC
Sent: Tuesday, June 18, 2024 1:21 PM COUNTY OF HAWAI'I
To: Council Testimony R,PECEIVED..
Subject: Condemnation/Pohoiki road issue e Tim
te ,�Ul 1, �014
It is very concerning and distressing that squabbling over such a small fraction of land
can have the consequence of potential death to thousands of people in the area that
would need to evacuate and not able to doing so because of the road blocking the only
way out. We must remember the recent lesson of Lahaina where people were trapped by
similar disasters. Lives can not be restored to dead bodies. This land itself was once
treated with community values in mind but the inheritors now are risking the lives of
Hawaiians descendants that could be massacred by earthquakes, firestorms, lava or
other catastrophic events..
After six years of frustration and misery because people could not get back to their
farms and homes because of this road closed, it is ridiculous that excuses are still being
expressed. Living in this area with our children, we have personally experienced this
hardship of not having the road access restored. The road closure of Pohoiki is also a
major hardship for residents that have to detour extra hours to get to their places from
other directions such as Kamaili road many miles away. Besides the waste of time and
extra road traffic and hazardous driving conditions, much more carbon from their
exhausts pollutes the environment accenting climate change concerns.
Many residents feel that there is an agenda to remove everyone out of this area and
create an even more dangerous industrial plant on live volcano zones that could be
horrendous. Excuses as to why this misery still exists in a supposedly civilized society
include ridiculous comments such as that if a road is open, "thousands of tourists" would
be driving on it to see ancient burial sights. It is almost impossible to believe in such a
fairy tale as to why folks on limited time tours would come all the way here lacking any
tourist services. A nicer intention and realistic would be that Hawaiian families could
finally be able to drive down from Pahoa to once again go fishing, swimming and even
paying their respects to the sacred ground and their properties. The aina of the land
would embrace the idea of such reverence not only to ancestors but also the the comfort
of the living families instead of just a few vested interests.
Greed should be balanced by morality and truth expressed instead of excuses. Sharing is
caring and with lives already facing enough challenges, so giving a few inches (15 feet)
from the hundreds of acres would be blessed from the gratitude of anchoring a helping
hand based on love over gold. Such an investment would itself pay back by the good will
to the victims affected by this road closure. Instead of planning to spend trillions of
dollars to build "smart cities", perhaps it would be more righteous and advantageous to
silence the division bells of resentment, anger exploitation, and colonialization and
instead manifest a paradigm of living together on a "stairway to heaven" through
harmonious "compassionate communities". Comm. ��• $�5•
Ref. To: 141,►tt�
1 Ref. Date 'J;b 1 9 2024