Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 12, Number 10, 1 October 1995 — lf ceded lands are sold, Hawaiians must be duly compensated [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

lf ceded lands are sold, Hawaiians must be duly compensated

bv The Rev. Moses K. keaie. Sr. Trustee, Kaua'i & Ni'ihau Last month I addressed the issue of the sale of lands of the Puhlie Trust. To eontinue in that vein, our conclusion is that if

such a sale is allowahle, the native Hawaiian Trust must be compensated for 20 percent of the full value of said lands at its best use market

value. I ended that discussion with references to the other four entities named as beneficiaries to the Public Land Trust and their access to the lands of the Public

Tmst. We, too, should have equal access to the use of those lands if such use is to be granted to those agencies whieh fulfill the other purposes of Section 5(f) of the Admissions Act. Those other purposes include: support of public schools and other public educational institutions, the development of farm and homeownership. for the making of public improvements and for the provision of lands for public use. If land ean be set aside for executing these purposes and 20 percent funding for eaeh category of purpose. then it stands to reason that land should be set aside for OHA to use as it sees fit for executing programs to better the conditions of native Hawaiians. Since the state does not agree with this proposal, then OHA should ask that all lands presently set aside and in use by those agencies and organizations classified in the other four purposes of the

Admission Act, be appraised at fair market value and an appropriate lease rental be assessed based upon standard fair market principles and the State turn over to OHA 20 percent of that annual lease value whether collected by the state or not eol-

lected. If such a proposal were accepted as fair, whieh it certainly is fair, the value of that annual lease should e x e e e d

$60,000.000. The back rent on such assessments would exceed $1 billion including

interest. Should the state further decide that such a lease assessment would overburden its budget problems, arrangements could be made to tum over land at an appropriate value, to OHA to F>rovide such things as housing and ineome generating interests. In most recent times, probably as a result of the state's budget woes, the state has asked for OHA to take over the funding of state employment positions whieh are directly related to servicing Hawaiians or Hawaiian issues. In other words, the state wants us to pay for what we would otherwise be entitled to as taxpayers while not paying for its full share

of the entitlement compensation owed to the native Hawaiians through their representative, the Office of Hawaiian Affairs. The time has eome to eall a spade a spade! Give us land to use as we wish to resolve dismal conditions of native Hawaiian living. Give us land to use as we wish to provide for an ineome stream independent of the State's general funds. Give us the full capacity to audit the collection

of revenue generated by the ceded lands. And finally, pay us for our full entitlement. Let us talk of justice! Let us talk of pono! And let us talk of these things today not at some time in the future when things get better! Things were better and the talk was non-existent. Good, bad or indifferent, justice demands that we all should be pono.