HomeMy WebLinkAbout2024-03-04 PL-SMA-2023-000046 Leiahi b Opposition Testimony From: Leiahi :b
To: WPCtestimonv
Cc: Nohea Ka'awa
Subject: Re:Testimony BLACK SAND BEACH LLC(PL-SMA-2023-000046)
Date: Monday,March 4,2024 9:17:21 PM
Attachments: Punalu"u Develooment Testimonv.docx
Leiahi'ena Ka'awa
February 4, 2024
Re: Testimony in opposition of the Punalu`u Land Development(Black Sands Beach LLC)
Aloha,my name is Leiahi`ena Ka`awa. I live in the ahupua`a of Palauhulu, in the moku of Ka`u. I
am writing this testimony in strong opposition to the proposed Development plan at Punalu`u put forth by
Black Sand Beach LLC. I am a lineal descendant of the lands of Punalu`u,Nmole and Wailau, Land
Commission Award 48760 and Land Commission Award 47313.
I am asking of you all today to please take into consideration the future of both Ka`u and the
people of Ka`u. The importance of keeping Punalu`u untouched by mass development is because
Punalu`u is home to native,endemic and endangered plants and animals, ancient and traditional places of
worship and ceremony, ancestral burials,fresh water springs,brackish water pools, and because Punalu`u
has provided the people of Ka`u an abundance of food and resources to feed the multitudes of generations
it has. The untouched and undeveloped state of punalu`u would allow us to keep these practices alive.
This is the way the kanaka `61wi in Ka`u have learned to live,to live with the intention of reciprocation as
one with the land,with the awareness that the health of the land reflects the health of her people.
Our Ka`u community's long standing goal is to protect our beloved and untouched 80 mile coast
to perpetuate our rural lifestyle and Hawaiian culture. My `ohana and I are here to oppose the potential
harm that this 343 acre resort would bring to Ka`u`s untouched coastlines and waterways. I speak today in
hopes of finding a more sustainable and practical avenue of land management to the fragile environment
that Punalu`u is. I speak today in hopes of raising my future children in the conditions of a healthy
environment in the same kept and untouched areas of Ka`u,just as I have been raised.
I`d like to end my testimony with the `61elo no`eau 41932; "Ku`u ewe,ku`u piko,ku`u iwi,ku`u
koko."Meaning "My umbilical cord,my navel,my bones,my blood."This is who Punalu`u is to me.
I strongly recommend an EIS.
Mahalo nui,
Leiahi`ena Ka`awa
leiahienak(a gmail.com