Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 10, Number 1, 1 January 1993 — State pays DHHL $9.72 million for back rent [ARTICLE]

State pays DHHL $9.72 million for back rent

by Pearl Page In an historic move, the state made good on decades-old back rent for its use of 33 parcels of Hawaiian homestead land. The Department of Hawaiian Home Lands received $9.72 million in November. Hoaliku Drake, Hawaiian Homes Commission chairwoman, said it was the first time government had made good on promises to restore the 71-year-old trust. "This payment is the result of years of work by the commission, working with the governor and the Legislature to begin repairing the assets of the Home

Lands trust, whieh, it has been documented, were systematically diverted for illegal uses for nearly 60 years," she said. The $9,604,593 payment plus interest will be going toward infrastructure and adding to the land trust. The department is looking at acquiring house lots on O'ahu and land in Kona - two places where demand for land is high and the available trust lands low, sbe said. The payment is only the first, she said. Back rent is owed on 18 other parcels. continued page 8

DHHL gets back rent from page 1

After extensive discussions, appraisals and public meeūngs, Chairwoman Drake requested certificaūon for payments of $9,604,593, plus interest. Further payments for ūiese 33 parcels may be sought if ūie aeūon is warranted, she said. That stipulation was brought about by a number of individuals who filed a suit to prohibit DHHL from signing a quit elaim agreement wiūi Ūie state. An out-of-court setūement sūpulates that more money ean be asked for these parcels on ūie basis of reasonable grounds. Charles Ka'ai'ai, a homesteader and one of Ūie liūgants, feels there is such a basis. "Something ūiat wasn't lookeū at in ūie negoūaūons was ūie loss of opportunity," he said. As long as ūie state used it, other homesteaders could not. "I feel that's something that needs to be looked aL" Since ūie U"ust's establishment in 1920, Ūie state and federal govemments alloweū Hawaiian homelands to be diverted to general public uses by means of execuūve orders and govemor's proclamaūons. This pracūce was mled illegal by Ūie state Attomey General in ūie 1980s. Gov. George Ariyoshi withdrew or canceled all of Ūie execuūve orders and proclamaūons in 1983 - 84, and in 1991 Gov. John Waihe'e formed an interagency task force to find remedies for ūie past abuses. The task force's work culminated in Act 316, whieh appropriated $12 million for making payments to DHHL for wrongful use of the trust's assets since statehood. Such wrongful use had to be verified by the Office of State Planning. Meanwhile, DHHL and other agencies, including ūie Department of the Attomey General, eonūnue to press Ūie federal govemment for payments owed for wrongful use of home lands during the territorial period. "Now that the state is beginning to make good on its responsibility, the United States has no good reason to avoid its duty to the tmst beneficiaries," Drake said.