Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 20, Number 2, 1 February 2003 — Hawaiian Homes evictions are a big problem [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Hawaiian Homes evictions are a big problem

My article this month eoncerns the eviction of homesteaders on Hawaiian Home Lands. Hawaiian Homes has eviction policies that help to make our Hawaiians homeless. Hawaiian Homes presently evicts one to give to another, using the same lands over and over again. We should have run out of lands a long time ago. How do we ask for more lands if homesteaders are currently using about 50,000 acres for homesteading and still have over 150,000 acres still undeveloped and

sitting some plaee in Hawai'i. Another reason for eviction is you must build a home on the land in one year after the infrastructure is complete. There should be no evictions, only surrenders. This is a rehabilitation program. Eviction means GET OUT. And surrender means when the homesteader wants to give back the 99 year lease on the land. At the gubernatorial forum OHA sponsored at the University of Hawai'i at Mānoa's East-West Center, I could not believe my ears when I heard Governor Lingle say,

"We could build tents on Hawaiian Home Lands." Unfortunately, Hawaiian Homes just completed a deal with the County of Hawai'i to make Hawaiians conform to all county building requirements. Homesteaders are being evicted for delinquent mortgage payments. Instead of evictions, building tents could be a temporary solution. A better solution for evictions would be to refinance the mortgage to coincide with the present ineome. Also, it would help if Hawaiian Homes did not wait until the mort-

gage delinquency reached $25,000. in arrears. As for the one year to build a home should not apply if the infrastructure should take ten years to complete. Many things change in 10 years. Hopefully, in the very near future I will be able to work out plans with Hawaiian Homes to take care of these problems. In the meantime, an extension of eviction implementation will give OHA a ehanee to help. Right now, everybody too busy to talk to me right now. Mahalo a nui loa. ■

" Linda Dela Cruz V?ce Chair, Trustee, Hawai'i