Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 20, Number 6, 1 Iune 2003 — Stop pier construction [ARTICLE]

Stop pier construction

I respectfully request that Gov. Linda Lingle and Lt. Gov. Duke Aiona use their powers to temporarily halt construction of improvements to the pier adjoining the site of Ahu'ena heiau at Kailua, Kona, so that all concerns of the Kūlana foundation, the non-profit organization that maintains and preserves the site, ean be heard and so that the question of obtaining an environmental impact statement that incorporates all of the history of the site ean be entertained. I find it wrongful, if not totally hypocritical, for the governor of the state of Hawai'i to testify in front of the U.S. Congress in support of the Akaka bill and then do nothing to preserve the very heart of the spiritual culture that the bill is intended to perpetuate and propitiate. Why let Kūlana, a Hawaiian organization that is in desperate need of resources, deplete its few remaining resources by going to court when the governor ean most probably solve this problem in-house by just taking a moment to listen and making a few calls on behalf of the preservation of this sacred site? Moke Kupihea Waimea (Editor's note: See page 1 1 tor a Kūkakūka community viewpoint concerning Ahu'ena Heiau.) ■