HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0271.039 2012-2014 COUNTY CLERK
COUNTY OF HAWAII
Kenneth Kamiya Time, RECEIVED
By
President Ts
Gold, Inc. Date 1'f 13
P.O. box 269
Hauula,Hawaii 96717
May 11, 2013
Hawaii County Council
Committee on Public Safety and Mass Transit
Tuesday May 14, 2013 9:00 a.m.
Re: Bill 79 Relating to the Prohibition of Genetically Modified Organisms
Committee Chair Ford and Members of the Committee:
My name is Kenneth Kamiya and I am a papaya farmer from the Northshore of Oahu and
I strongly oppose Bill 79. I have been fanning papaya for over 40 years and I have been
an active member of the Hawaii Papaya Industry Association. Over this period I served
as President many times,and I am very proud to have been a part of supporting and
promoting the use of science and biotechnology to save our papaya industry from
complete extinction. As you already may be aware 90%of Hawaii's papayas are
produced here on the Big Island which provides a major economic impact to local
farmers and associated companies. To attempt to throttle our comeback after years of
struggling to survive the devastating papaya ring spot virus disease is blatant idiocy on
the proponents of Bill 79.
Our Rainbow papaya and its derivatives are the best in the world and all indications
suggest that with continuous effort we can achieve the international and national
prominence that it well deserves. Placing hurdles based on"fear mongering" and the
"precautionary principle"puts an unnecessary burden directly on our hardworking
papaya farmers with lower returns and stigmatizing a worthy profession, a profession we
should all be encouraging rather than denigrating.
I urge you to put Bill 79 in the recycling bin where at least we can realize some return on
wasted time and materials.
Re 0,eetful , sub ft ed,
Ke l neth Kamiya
Comm. a' ( .3
Ref. To: �/ M C.
Ref. Dc�n ,,/. Y._1.4_._2013