Kaʻū News Briefs Sunday, Oct. 29, 2023

     The large capacity gang cesspool is illegal under federal law and the county is seeking to replace it with a system approved by the Environmental Protection Agency and state Department of Health. The old gang cesspool is a remnant from the old, defunct sugar company but is still in use and doesn't comply with modern laws regarding waste disposal.    The county statement says it mailed surveys to the owners of 164 properties in Na'alehu that are connected or accessible to the gang cesspool, and the owners of 30 parcels that would become accessible. The surveys will be accepted at the public meeting. Those who own an affected lot should be receiving a survey at the address listed in real property tax records. Those who do not own an affected lot, live in the Na'alehu area, are still welcome to come as the selection of the type of wastewater disposal system to be installed will impact everyone.
    Those responding and the general public are invited to click on the recently posted Preliminary Engineering Report for Naalehu and consider attending the meeting with any questions for staff of the Department of Environmental Management. See https://www.hawaiicounty.gov/departments/environmental-management/pahala-naalehu/

AN UPDATE ON RAMONA OKUMURA, TRAPPED IN GAZA, has come from her brother Glenn Okumura who lives in Pāhala. The family statement says:

    "More than three weeks in, American aid worker Ramona Okumura continues to be trapped in Gaza along with 45 other aid workers and an estimated 500-600 other Americans as violence intensifies in the region and food, water, and fuel supplies dwindle. The Okumura family has joined their desperate pleas with that of other trapped Americans, who say they have been in regular communication with their elected officials, yet there has been no update or timeline for an evacuation of a single American citizen from war-torn Gaza.
    "The Okumura family and others continue to pressure senators and the Department of State with calls, emails, and meetings to demand a ceasefire and humanitarian corridor for safe passage out of Gaza with military support if needed. Otherwise, they say, their loved ones will continue to be hostages of the situation, held in a war zone against their will, all while hundreds of children and citizens continue to be killed a day."

Ramona Okumura and Dr. Barbara Zind were working together in Gaza when they became trapped by the war. Photo from Okumua family

   Ramona's brother in Honoka'a said, "In addition to the 220 hostages taken during the October 7 attack by Hamas, 500 American citizens are being held hostage by the situation in Gaza due to the lack of action between the US, Egyptian, Hamas and Israel. Any day now there could be a tragic accident or intentional bombing of their present location near the border of Egypt. Jet planes fly over and bombs are heard falling in the area all night long. They can hear the missiles being launched nearby by Hamas. They can see drones flying above, surveying their locations. "
    The family statement says, "Ramona Okumura and her colleague, Dr. Barbara Zind, were on what should have been a routine medical mission to provide prosthetics to child amputees but have now been trapped in this dangerous war zone and humanitarian nightmare for nearly three weeks. The Americans are under constant bombardment and facing limited access to the most necessities, including clean water and food."
   Ramona Okumura texted, "Tens of thousands of IDPS, internationally displaced persons, are at the place we were last, without food and water and shelter. They are in dire need of massive humanitarian aid. More arrive every day as the areas around where they live get hit by missiles and bombs." Okumura,

Ramona Okumura has been locating materials, making and fitting prosthetics for amputee Palestinian children for years. Originally from Hawai'i, with her brother living in Pāhala, she became trapped when the war began Oct. 7 and has  moved to a camp near the border, hoping to cross into Egypt. Photo from Okumura family

herself, is bunkered in an UN compound. She said there have been people banging at the doors, and several members of her contingent have stomach symptoms due to the limited food available. They have begun rationing supplies as they have already been trapped for 22 days without any option to evacuate and with no news of how much longer they may remain."
   The Okumura family statement says, "Other Americans trapped in Gaza have reported that they have resorted to drinking salt water, including a young family from Medway, Massachusetts, Abood Okal, his wife Wafaa Abuzayda, and their one-year-old son Yousef Okal. They are represented by Sammy Nabulsi, who has said in several interviews with ABC News that "Everyday it's getting worse and worse for these citizens and this family.'

    The Okumura family says, "As the situation grows more and more dire with each passing hour, these families have renewed questions about why the United States has taken so long to organize a civilian evacuation of Gaza, when the U.S. government has successfully evacuated hundreds of American citizens out of Israel via chartered planes and cruise ships, with evacuation efforts from Israel ongoing.
    "Many have expressed feeling abandoned and disregarded by the Biden Administration and the State Department. While their representatives have assured them that they are tracking the situation, they have now gone weeks without any clarity on how – and when - Americans in Gaza can hope to escape."
    Nabulsi said,  "We are barreling towards a situation where American made weapons paid for American dollars may be used to either harm or kill American citizens. It's incomprehensible to me." 

VOLCANO ART CENTER HOSTS JAZZ IN THE FOREST on Saturday, Nov. 11. It is a Potpourri of Jazz and features a selection of classics from the last hundred years of America’s greatest music. The Jazztones will take listeners through the last century with the participation of JP Thoma on saxophones, Asha Azama on keyboard, Joey Carroll on bass, Owen Matsui on drums, and featuring the vocal artistry of prize winning Owana Salazar. Venue is VAC's Niaulani Campus on Saturday, Nov.11, at 5:30pm.