Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 26, Number 7, 1 July 2009 — OHA deserves back pay, but should be careful to avoid Banyan Drive [ARTICLE]

OHA deserves back pay, but should be careful to avoid Banyan Drive

OHA had proposed bills in the state House and Senate to settle past claims due the Hawaiian people by the state. One of the properties to be offered as partial payment in these bills was the Waiākea Peninsula in Hilo on the Big Island, the loeahon of Banyan Drive. However, it would have been tragic if OHA had been given this land, and we should all rejoice that it had been removed from both versions of this bill. Why? Because within 100 years with the most conservative estimates of global warming's effect on oeean levels, we ean expect most of the Waiākea Peninsula to be under at least a few inches of water, whieh would make it worthless as an asset. Of course, this unpaid debt to OHA needs to be paid, and the sooner, the better, but not with bad investments. A combination of land and cash sounds good, but the bad news has been that we've only been offered properties that the state already owns, and few of them seem suitable, at least as we've been thinking about them. Instead, OHA ean look for lands whieh are owned by private individuals that are located in areas with growing populations and that are well-suited to be the "downtown" areas that those populations will need as they grow. Carefully chosen lands of this sort

could be acquired by the state and then transferred to OHA. The leases paid by every business every month would go to serve the Hawaiian people instead of going to some private landlords, as it usually does. Imagine if OHA owned downtown Hilo and collected all that rent? It would be wonderful! Carl F. Oguss Hilo, Hawai'i