Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 5, Number 10, 1 October 1988 — The Hawaiian Homes Program — Progress, But A Long Way To Go [ARTICLE]

The Hawaiian Homes Program — Progress, But A Long Way To Go

By Ed Miehelman Public Information Officer Since 1980, "remarkable progress has been made to review and repair the Hawaiian Homes trust," according to OHA Chairperson Louis Hao. Hao and Trustee Clarence F.T. Ching were among those attending a public hearing by the Hawaii Advisory Committee to the United States

Civil Rights Commission at the Ilikai Hotel on September 6th. Eight years ago, the committee, following a similar forum on the Hawaiian Homelands, published a summary of those proceedings entitled, "Breach of Trust? Native Hawaiian Homelands." The September 6 hearings were an attempt to determine what progress has been made in the administration of the Hawaiian Homes trust.

Hao said the repair process includes the return of nearly 28,000 acres of trust lands illegally set aside by Executive Orders and used for non-ben-eficiary purposes. Other positive steps cited by Hao include payment by the state of back rents due the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands (DHHL) for the use of airport lands; an accelerated awards program and capital improvements program by the Legislature; the availability of FHA mortgages for DHHL lessees and a small but symbolic federal appropriation for Hawaiian Homes infrastructure.

"As impressive as these gains are, however, eaeh step forward has also meant a new question raised, a possible breach deepened," Hao testified. "And that is the tragedy of the Hawaiian Homes program, that progress always walks with a shadow of doubt," he said. Among the questions raised by Chairperson Hao is "the unconscionable wait whieh continued for so many qualified beneficiaries while nonHawaiians enjoy leases." One member of the au

dience, Helen Aveiro from Kamuela, told Ka Wai Ola O Oha she has been waiting 40 years for a lease, since 1948. Hao also questioned the handling of: illegally set aside lands returned to DHHL; the loss of DHHL lands to the federal government; land exchanges whieh harmed the OHA trust and an emphasis on ineome production rather than concentrating on making lands available for beneficiary purposes.

Hawaiian Homes Commission Chairperson Ilima Piianaia in her testimony listed a number of "key accomplishments" whieh she said demonstrated tremendous progress in resolving concerns identified in a 1982 Federal-State Task Force report. However, she recognized that "there is still mueh to do." The progress made over the past five years "has created new issues, problems and areas of eoneem."

She said that although 2,541 lots were awarded between 1984 and 1987, the number of applieations for homesteads increased from 8,000 to over 17,000 today, creating additional demands on her department. "The department's financial resources must also be increased through the eontinued development of commercial and industrial lands," Piianaia said. She concluded her testimony by pledging to "continue to implement the recommendations of the task force, and at the same time adjust to the changing needs, constraints and opportunities the past five years have brought."