- There seems to be no limit to what they'll do to make
corporate profiteers comfortable!
-
- Is it not a crime to override two court decisions, both
the State Supreme and lower court, and call a special session of the State
Legislature to cater to arrogant Superferry Corporation owners? The uncaring
Hawai'i State Government has refused to protect our 'aina
-
- ["Land"] and ocean, and has circumvented the
requirement that the law be followed with an EIS (Environmental Impact
Statement).
-
- The crime is in ignoring the Court decisions and circumventing
Statutes requiring an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS.) If this was
not done in collusion with Governor Lingle's administration, then it was
malfeasance. Collateral damage of this nefarious episode is the undermining
of the 30 year old Environmental Law itself.
-
- Yet Kaua'i people who felt "backed against the wall"
by the cavalier attitude of Superferry and the State going against the
Supreme Court ruling are being chastised and accused of lacking the Aloha
Spirit for their practice of Aloha 'Aina [Note: Love of the Land] and for
protecting their 'aina [Land] and homes on Kaua'i.
-
- How hollow and meaningless this makes our traditional
Hawaiian value system of Aloha 'Aina, which ironically is touted in the
State 2050 Sustainability Plan as our guide into the future.
-
- One wonders how the decision to ignore an EIS for Superferry
was made ONLY within the Department of Transportation without consultation
with the Attorney General or Governor Lingle while the issue was in court.
Is this a cover-up?
-
- The Governor's proposed "Unified Command" threatens
protesters with a Coast Guard flotilla -- this smacks of police state tactics.
Those citizens who question and protest these proceedings are further intimidated
with the threat of child endangerment charges should their surfer teenager
end up as part of the protest.
-
- This Superferry gang and Governor Lingle will apparently
go to any legal and extra legal lengths to undermine Judge Cardoza and
the State Supreme Court's prudent rulings.
-
- There are those of us on the neighbor islands, native
and non-native alike, who believe the phrase "Keep the Country, Country"
is not just an idle phrase on a bumper-sticker. The issue is broader than
the Superferry itself. It is the loss of our quality of life - the soul,
the mana [Note: Spiritual Power] of our Islands.
-
- We don't want the urbanization, concrete jungle and freeway
traffic jams of 'Oahu. Nor do we want our natural resources pillaged like
the three truck loads of river pohaku [Rocks] from 'Iao Stream on Maui
that would have been transported by Superferry to 'Oahu. The perpetrators
were charged and will be tried.
-
- A proper and thorough EIS from the beginning would have
addressed these issues and others that are sure to arise, and we would
not be a divided citizenry on the Superferry issue as we are today.
-
- The legislature that met for 6 days to sell out Hawaiis'
people and our environment, foolishly convened a special session to bail
out Superferry and the Governor, both of whom ignored the law written over
30 years ago to protect the environment, possibly before the Governor moved
here from the Mainland. That is part of our problem here in Paradise: some
newcomers move here and try to make us into whatever it was they left behind
on the mainland. They think we are "country bumpkins!"
-
- The Superferry President and CEO, John Garibaldi, had
already stated that they will not go slower than 37 knots (over 42 mph
or about 60 ft
-
- per second.) This is twice as fast as any current large
ocean going vessel within these Islands. The Superferry's route is within
Maui's whale calving waters and is sure to slash and kill any whale on
impact with the Catamaran's knife like hulls, according to expert testimony
in Judge Cardoza's court.
-
- It is not that we are against the Superferry and having
alternative transportation between our Islands; we are positively against
Superferry and the State Administration not protecting us-- the People--
and our natural resources. Instead of following the law regarding
Superferry the Legislature and Governor changed it at a whim for
CORPORATE interests!
-
- What price paradise? Auwe! [Rough translation: In mourning
and wailing as if at a Funeral.]
-
- Yet this issue is not over. With their "new law"
intended to circumvent Judge Cardoza's ruling, the State hopes to dissolve
the injunction that prohibits the Superferry operation while the EIS is
being worked out. Opponent attorney, Isaac Hall, will argue that the injunction
must stand because the "new law" is unconstitutional. The hearing
is set for November 14 on Maui. Stay tuned!
-
- Ua mau ke ea o ka 'aina I ka pono! Translation: The life
of the Land is perpetuated in righteousness. Hawaiian state motto passed
on from King Kamehameha III when he saw the dangers of the impact of
the invasion from America.
-
- _______
-
- Moanikeala Akaka is a Native Hawaiian woman whose roots
have been in Hawaii for over 1200 years. One of a handful who started the
modern movement for Justice for her people and land almost 40 years ago.
She is a former Trustee of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs. (12 years)
She initiated Hawaii County ordinances making Hawaii Island the first and
largest nuclear free zone in America in 1980. She also works actively for
public health, legal and social services, AARP and Peace issues. Contact
Akaka at alohaaina.akaka @gmail.com
-
-
- For Immediate Release Contact: Moanikeala Akaka alohaaina.akaka@gmail.com
Hawaii
-
- Distributed by Bob Nichols, a Project Censored Award
Winner and correspondent for the San Francisco Bay View newspaper. Nichols
covers War, Politics and America's Nuclear Weapons Labs. Nichols filed
an official statement about radiation detection irregularities in the
Draft Environmental Impact Statement. Contact Nichols at in San Francisco
at 415-992-NEWS, or 6397, or Email duweapons@gmail.com
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