Kaʻū News Briefs, Sunday, September 8, 2019

PROTECTORS OF MAUNAKEA ISSUED A  CALL TO THE MAUNA after police cut through a Hawaiian flag during demolition of an unpermitted wooden structure on Department of Hawaiian Home Lands property.

     The statement, issued yesterday, asserts the closing of Daniel K. Inouye Highway, Saddle Road, tonight, and law "enforcement action" as early as pre-dawn tomorrow: "After 56 days of peacefully protecting Maunakea and holding off the TMT, we have received information from multiple sources that has given us reason to strongly believe that law enforcement action to clear Puʻuhonua o Pu‘uhuluhulu and the Maunakea Access Road for TMT construction is imminent.

     "TMT will be meeting with State and County officials this Sunday to coordinate their attack on peaceful and nonviolent protectors of Maunakea. We are asking all Kiaʻi Mauna to come to Puʻuhonua o Puʻuhuluhulu before Sunday evening and to be prepared to stay as long as you can. We need as much people as we can get to stand in Kapu Aloha to protect Maunakea from further desecration through the building of the Thirty Meter Telescope.

     "Kiaʻi coming to Maunakea should be prepared to camp out at Puʻuhonua o Puʻuhuluhulu and should bring clothing and supplies suitable for cold weather and harsh conditions. Kiaʻi should also come to the Puʻuhonua with a true commitment to protect Maunakea in Kapu Aloha, peace, nonviolence and respect. Our strong commitment to Kapu Aloha is the foundation of the success of this movement, and our success moving forward relies on it as well.

     "To all of our Kiaʻi Mauna, now is the time. Maunakea needs you. See you on the Mauna!"

DEMOLITION OF AN UNPERMITTED STRUCTURE near Maunkea Access Road on Friday has sparked reaction from Protectors of Maunakea. The structure was intended as a library and study space for keiki, according to a statement from leaders at Puʻuhonua o Puʻuhuluhulu, where Protectors of Maunakea have gathered since July 13. The Kiaʻi, Protectors, protest the building of the planet's largest terrestrial telescope atop a mauna they hold sacred. Maunakea Access Road, which has been peacefully blocked by the Kiaʻi since July 15, is the only way to the summit for the heavy machinery required to construct the Thiry Meter Telescope.

     About the demolition of the structure, Gov. David Ige said, "Law enforcement has deliberately refrained from escalating its approach to the current protest because it was important to provide some meaningful space and time for all of us to find a peaceful resolution to this situation. However, this type of permanent structure erected without (Department of Hawaiian Home Lands) permission, and without being regulated or inspected in any way, cannot be allowed. The safety risk is too great."

     A livestream video from Ikaika Marzo, well know for his coverage of the Kīlaueaeruption last year, shows the cutting of the Hawaiian flag, which was attached across the building's entry door. Video released from Department of Land and Natural Resources did not show the sawing. Marzo's video also shows the arrest of two men, one of them visibly upset.

     Said Marzo, while recording: "Sad that our flag, our flag was on the door… All you have to do is take down the flag, and saw down the door. But instead he like…. he like saw right through the flag."

     After the event, State Highways director Ed Sniffen stated, "The officers had to cut through the flag in order to get through the building because all the windows were blacked out. There was no way for our law enforcement to see inside the building to see if anybody was there or if it was safe to take down."

     Marzo posted to Facebook, "Tell me the flag could have come down easier then sawing it down. Are you serious Ige? You had all the time in the world to peacefully and respectfully take it down with honor and integrity. Mahalo to HPDBigIsland for taking down the 2nd flag with aloha and integrity. Bradda's much respect!"

     According to multiple sources, Buku Gamayo, one of the arrested men, cried out, "Mom! They cut the flag! They cut the flag – they could have pulled it off! How can they wear it on their uniform to show who they represent then do something like that, mom?!"

     Darde Gamayo, mother of Buku Gamayo, said in a post to Facebook: "The pain from yesterday's incident is going to remain in everyone's heart & memory for a long time."

     The Office of Hawaiian Affairs issued a statement on the demolition, remarking that there is a "longstanding and particularly abhorrent double standard the state uses to enforce land use laws against Native Hawaiians as opposed to others."
     OHA contends that the state has allowed other "unpermitted and unauthorized astronomy structures that were far larger and located in far more environmentally- and culturally-sensitive areas of the mountain." They gave examples: the first three telescopes built on the summit of Maunakea "failed to apply for a conservation district use permit and therefore were unpermitted for at least six years." OHA states an unauthorized structure was "discovered" in 1976, but the $85,000 fine against the building contractor "appears to have never been collected." OHA states that, in 1982, Bureau of Land and Natural Resources approved the Caltech telescope permit "with an explicit requirement that no further astronomy development occur until the University of Hawaiʻi completed a new master plan. Two months later, BLNR approved a new telescope before the master plan was completed, thereby endorsing a violation of the Caltech permit." In 1997, states OHA, BLNR approved four after-the-fact subleases for telescopes already built or in the process of being built on the summit.