Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 25, Number 6, 1 Iune 2008 — Hāloa supporters vow to return next year [ARTICLE]

Hāloa supporters vow to return next year

By Lisa Asatū Public lnfurmatiūn Specialist With the GMO kalo hill dead this legislative session, taro fanner Ierry Konanui said supporters of Hāloa are planning to use the upcoming 2008 eleehon to support those who are friendly to their cause. "The job we've got now is to remove those (in office) who did who did not support us, especially on the Big Island," said Konanui, an eighth generation taro fanner from Puna. "We have other people on other islands also working on that too. We want to stress we're not going to go away. Because they didn't listen to us, we're eoming back next year because we need the nmnbers to get a hill in, and they've told us directly it will never happen again." Senate Bill 958, whieh in its

original form would have imposed a 10-year moratorium on genetic modification of taro, died after being sent back to eonnnihee April 8 on the floor of the House. "It was sent back because the votes were not there to pass it out," said House Speaker Calvin Say (D-

Pālolo). "It's normal procedure." Say, who said he used to fann taro as did his grandfather and unele, said the amended hill that passed out of the House Agriculture Conunittee following more than seven hours of testimony was a compromise measme that he would have liked

to see pass for further debate. But, he said, the votes were split. Say said he supported the compromise hill because GMO "will make it pest-resistant and virus-resistant" in the face of threats like water rot and apple snails. The amended hill would have

decreased the moratorimn to five years and would have banned only Hawaiian varieties from genetic modification. "The five-year (moratorium) wasn'ttheproblem," said Konanui, who years ago had supported GMO as a tool "to save the world." He changed his nūnd, he said, after attending an international conference where scientists and fanners convinced him otherwise. Konanui and other fanners say taro doesn't need to be tampered with to thrive. Konanui said the big issue with the amended hill was that by genetically engineering some taro varieties, all varieties are threatened through cross-pollination. He also said the hill would have denied the counties a say in the genetic engineering of taro. He said supporters of the hill, including 'Ōnipa'a Nā Hui Kalo, the largest taro association statewide, eall themselves "the caretakers of our taro," whieh is held sacred to Hawaiians. □

Bills that passed Bills awaiting the governor's signatme include these OHA-supported measmes: • HB 2704 would establish the Ha'ikū Valley Cultural Reserve Conunission to manage and protect Ha'ikū Valley's abundant cultural and historic resources. • HB 3177 would increase the maximum penalties for violations in conservation districts to $15,000 from $2,000 per day. The hill includes continued protection for indigenous gathering rights on conservation land. • HB 3178 would impose higher civil penalties for unauthorized or illegal uses of puhlie lands including encroachment. OHA cited the need for

increased penalties as a tool for deterring activities such as conunercial heaeh operations that could possibly damage archeological or eulhual sites. • SB 2730, whieh OHA introduced, is aimed at boosting child protection by expediting legal recognition of the hānai tradition and would give placement preference to a relative identified by the state Department of Human Services. DHS would also be allowed to actively seek 'ohana members to assume duties of foster care and to provide applieations to any relatives of foster children seeking to assume child custody. Two bills signed into law by Lt. Gov. Duke Aiona have made kalo the official state plant, and the monk seal the state manunal.