Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 10, Number 5, 1 May 1993 — Doings with dollars [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Doings with dollars

by Moanike'ala Akaka Trustee, Hawai'i Public irritation, impatience and distrust of government are justified when critical education, social and heahh care needs go unmet. Resources are needed to alleviate these needs, but state

ieauersnip usners us down a path of needless financial burden and bondage. The Honolulu International Airport expansion and the proposed Ka'ū Spaceport are two examples. The exnan«:ir>n r>f

the Honolulu Airport has been going on for years and will cost over $2 billion. Several months ago, worried state officials wondered how they could scale down their plans in view of slumping tourism. The Honolulu Advertiser (Apnl 7, 1993) laments "Hotel (occupancy) blues expected to linger through '95." We, the taxpayers, will pay for this unnecessary airport expansion. The proposed Ka'ū Spaceport has been controversial for over a decade. Most residents have testified that the spaceport would

destroy Ka'ū's rural lifestyle. Recognizing community opposition, Mayor Steve Yamashiro acknowledged that "the Spaceport idea should be abandoned," ( Hawai'i Tribune Herald article March 21, 1993). The state has spent over $7 million to lure a developer to spend million n a

commercial launeh facility at Palima Point. The state Office of Space Industry (OSI) plan projects hundreds of millions of dollars for infrastructure. Hawai'i would have to build these facilities from

scratch but there are already existing launeh facilities on the mainland. OSI plans 15 to 22 launches a year, while a federal report projects only 8 to 10 launches yearly for the entire U.S. This report, "U.S. Space Launeh Capabilities," was issued last November and raises questions about the eeonomie feasibility of U.S. commercial space launches. This report states that U.S. capabilities are "significantly threatened" by cheaper French, Russian and Chinese launches. We have been telling our state

and county officials this for five years but thēy have closed their minds to this information. For OSI to continue to elaim that a Hawai'i facility ean eompete with worldwide launeh facilities is embarrassingly naive. OSI will squander our money on this pipe dream as long as we allow it. In an April 9 Honolulu Advertiser article on his appointment to the Department of Business and Eeonomie Development and Tourism, Mufi Hannemann continues to push the spaceport idea. He refuses to support the democratic right of Ka'ū's people to not want the spaceport. The Honolulu Star-Bulletin (April 7, 1993) quotes Bank of Hawai'i economist David Ramsour, "The economy is tied closely to state construction plans." No big news, yet that scares me. The state has committed to a $2 billion airport expansion we don't need, and a spaceport costing in the millions. Who pays for these construction projects? We the people. Must we become economically enslaved for generations to stimulate the economy now? Social needs and problems of Hawaiians and all state residents go ignored in order to pay for projects that the community does not want.

Where is the vision and foresight needed to take us into the 2 1 st century? We must prepare for a positive future, building schools and universities, hospitals, caring institutions and infrastructure. Otherwise, we will build prisons for our 'ōpio, as proposed. As Hawaiians, part of that answer is sovereignty and having a land base and our own environmentally sound land-use practices. It is our responsibility to present and future generations to be good stewards. There will be no one for our descendants to

blame but us if we don't mālama the 'āina of our sovereign nation. We must be pono, with appropriate community-based eeonomie development projects on Hawaiian nation lands. Though sovereignty ean help Hawaiians by opening doors of potential with wise alternatives, this state must redirect resources to care for the basic needs of its populaee, Hawaiians and nonHawaiians alike. Mālama pono. Ua mau ke ea o ka 'āina i ka pono.