Grand Theft 'Āina II
New Decade. New Land Grabs. Same Old Story.
“This is a Hawaiian land grab. It's subtle. It's very shifty. And it's something that I think is inexcusable until all the Hawaiians are put back on the land, of which I have said we have a moral obligation to return the land and put the Hawaiians back on the land and this [bill] pushes us farther away from that... with a good excuse for saying we are going to build affordable housing, and I know a lot of Hawaiians do get affordable housing, but this is about land. It's not about rental housing." -- Rep. Gene Ward on SB2 (companion to HB902).
"Allowing the extension of leases beyond 65 years with no cap (e.g. some lessees could end up with a 105 year lease) would set up lessees as pseudo land owners of Hawaiian “public” lands that may eventually lead down a slippery slope of lease to fee conversions. This could have a devastating impact on specific sacred sites such at Mauna a Wākea, Pōhakuloa, Makua Valley, etc." -- Dr. Jamaica Osorio, Professor of Native Hawaiian and Indigenous Politics, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, on HB499.
“This is a Hawaiian land grab. It's subtle. It's very shifty. And it's something that I think is inexcusable until all the Hawaiians are put back on the land, of which I have said we have a moral obligation to return the land and put the Hawaiians back on the land and this [bill] pushes us farther away from that... with a good excuse for saying we are going to build affordable housing, and I know a lot of Hawaiians do get affordable housing, but this is about land. It's not about rental housing." -- Rep. Gene Ward on SB2 (companion to HB902).
"Allowing the extension of leases beyond 65 years with no cap (e.g. some lessees could end up with a 105 year lease) would set up lessees as pseudo land owners of Hawaiian “public” lands that may eventually lead down a slippery slope of lease to fee conversions. This could have a devastating impact on specific sacred sites such at Mauna a Wākea, Pōhakuloa, Makua Valley, etc." -- Dr. Jamaica Osorio, Professor of Native Hawaiian and Indigenous Politics, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, on HB499.
Despite overwhelming opposition from the public at every hearing, three bills proposing to give developers, private corporations, and the military century-long leases of "public," stolen Hawaiian lands are about to be passed into law by the Hawaiʻi State Legislature.
Now is the time to make our stand.
Now is the time to make our stand.
