On Oct. 4, Big Island Chamber of Commerce representatives met with Gov. David Ige and presented a letter urging him to provide leadership in resolving the Thirty Meter Telescope project controversy. The Honolulu Advertiser ran a story and the meeting was covered briefly on the local TV channels. While the letter was very polite, it severely criticized the lack of enforcement by the governor of the illegal protester activities on Mauna Kea. It also implied the governor was actually supporting the protesters by his constant statements about the right to legal protest and weak enforcement. The letter implies that the governor is essentially allowing mob rule to take place by the protesters in blocking the project rather than the enforcing the rule of law to allow work to continue.
The BICC letter provides many good reasons why things have gone wrong and why astronomy is beneficial to the people of Hawaii. For those who wish to see the letter it can be found at http://spotidoc.com/doc/1278079/hicc—letter-to-governor-ige.
Ige’s response was very brief, claiming that he has been enforcing the law but everyone knows that the protesters were living on Mauna Kea for months with only two brief periods where arrests were made and the protesters were back in their illegal tents and building the next day. This lack of enforcement is especially frustrating since the rules were revised to provide a strong legal basis for enforcement and then almost nothing was done. The protesters now have left the mountain, expecting to be notified when work is planned to start again. Their illegal building is still stranding across the road from the visitor center.
Ige also claims that the TMT project can resume work whenever they wish and the authorities will provide adequate protection for the workers to get to the TMT site. Based on previous experience, that is very unlikely without closing the road or blocking the protesters from the mountain. Ige also mentioned the fact that the Hawaii Supreme Court was reviewing the permit process in an appeal by the protesters. He seems to be trying to avoid being held responsible for blocking the project by weak enforcement but hoping the Supreme Court will rule against the state for issuing the permit before holding a required protest hearing.
The governor seems completely uninterested in acknowledging and supporting the beneficial impact of astronomy in Hawaii. Theses aspects are briefly detailed in the Chamber of Commerce letter. Ige continues to cater to the protesters in spite of their activities and unwillingness to accept any solution that allows the TMT project to proceed. He seems more concerned with an undefined “cultural” deficiency that needs to be addressed. But no matter how this project ends up, it will be clear that Ige was missing in action when leadership was needed.
Jerry Smith is a resident of North Kohala.
Viewpoint articles are the opinion of the writer and not necessarily the opinion of West Hawaii Today.