HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0212.313 1996-1998
May 7 , 1997
Honorable James Arakaki, Chairman,
Honorable Al Smith, Vice Chair, and
Memers of the Council: Honorable Aaron Chung, Bobby Jean
Leithead-Todd, John Ray, Joseph Reynolds, John Santangelo, Curtis
Tyler, and Dominic Yagong,
My name is Tom Shiroma. I want to first thank the Council
members, especially the two Kona district members, Joseph Reynolds
and Curtis Tyler, who spent the whole day, from 8 a.m. to 8
p.m., at the last hearing. We appreciate your dedicated interest.
We have a problem here...the problem, like leprosy,
diphtheria, tuberculosis, measles, cholera, etc., to name a
few, was causing havoc until vaccination and immunization made
it possible to prevent and control these problems...some of
which have been around for thousands of years.
In agriculture, the fruit-fly is the big problem but
irradiation is the answer. Like chlorinated water which controls
bacteria in the water, irradiation can help control the pests,
making it possible to export many of our locally-grown agricultural
products, which will benefit all of us..for the good of the
community, by providing food and employment...the pickers, the
graders, the shippers, the taxes due to the local, state, and
federal governments, etc.
Some of the locally-grown agricultural products are
flowers, foliage, plants, fruits, vegetables. Every year we
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see tons and tons of the delicious red litchees hanging from
backyards and small orchards which are limited to only local
consumption. With irradiation, these litchees, as well as other
exotic and tropical fruits will become available for export.
We are the stewards of this land--managers and keepers-
-that through dedication and sound conservation practices, this
land will be here for millions of years---years that we hope
will be productive.
Thank you, members of the Council...and please vote
YES for irradiation.
Mahalo.
Tom Shiroma