Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 19, Number 3, 1 April 2002 — ʻQuo vadis' (whither) OHA [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

ʻQuo vadis' (whither) OHA

Under the new conditions that face OHA what is possible for the widest benefit of most, Continuing lawsuits challenging OHA operations seem to be con.tin.uing without resolution, And with this in mind, it is my belief that there are avenues that ean be followed to continue providing benefits in the mean time, One recently reported benefit was the business venture of the Quality Homes of the Pacific, selection of experienced board members, The project is designed to furnish affordable quality homes, The five qualified directors of the board are

Frank Brandt, David Hulihe'e, Louis Kau, Leatrice Kauahi and Gary Yee, Shelter is one the most necessary and pressing needs, and with the formation of the new venture Quality Homes, that project ean be addressed, As reported earlier, the Quality Home is of modular eonstruction using termite resistant materials, And ean be delivered forsome $50,000 to a house lot, for final completion of a three-bed-room, two-bath home, The price of any home ean vary due to special additions, Another benefit was the hard

work of Trustee Akana, Having HUD's Fannie Mae Loan program commit $100 million to OHA is un.preceden.ted, The loan program will provide 100 percent financing for improvements and an additional 3 percent for closing costs, This loan package is available to all qualified native Hawaiians and Hawaiians and not confined to only Hawaiian Homes Lands, Native Hawaiians (50 percent blood quantum) will now be adequately cared for by the Hawaiian Hom.es Commission, They will now have the option to enjoy low cost housing, unparalleled financing and

of course also the land, The Hawaiian Homes Commission housing program will be experiencing exceptional growth, I believe the Hawaiian (1/64) housing needs are just as urgent and persistent as the native Hawaiian, in fact I believe there exists a far greater number of Hawaiians that need homes than the native Hawaiian, This paradox or dilemma of the Hawaiian, will be the next project that I intend to pursue and elaborate upon in my coming May news update article, ■

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Charles Ota Trustee,, Maui