HILO — The County Council helps those who help themselves.
A group raising money to fight a dengue fever outbreak in the South Kona fishing village of Milolii discovered that Wednesday, when it was awarded $5,000 from South Kona/Kʻau Councilwoman Maile David’s contingency relief fund.
“I believe the people that live there know exactly what they need,” David said. “We need to assist in any way that we can.”
Each council member received $100,000 last year to spend on projects they see as priorities.
The $5,000 will be transferred to the county Civil Defense Agency, which will use it to purchase covers for water catchment tanks for some of the 37 homes in this rural subdivision. Each cover costs around $300.
Council members praised Paa Pono Milolii, a nonprofit that has worked to rid the community of mosquitoes and their breeding grounds.
“We’re glad there are groups out there willing to go out and able to help these rural communities,” said Council Chairman Dru Kanuha of Kona.
The group has raised $5,455 on its own through a “Fight Da Bite” fundme site, and is also volunteering many hours to help the neighborhood battle the outbreak. The group has gone door-to-door in the tight-knit community whose residents are often wary of strangers and government officials, council members noted.
“I think this is a fantastic opportunity for government and community organizations to join to help our keiki, our kupuna and our island community,” said Kai Kahele, director of Paa Pono Milolii.
Following confirmation of four cases of the disease, Civil Defense in late December closed the beach park to the public.
The Department of Health on Wednesday reported five new confirmed dengue cases on the island. The total number of confirmed cases since the beginning of the outbreak is 207. These cases include 187 residents and 20 visitors.
It’s not known if any of the new cases are from Milolii. The number of dengue cases in Milolii is under 10, and they’re all residents, a Health Department spokeswoman said late Wednesday. There have been no new cases identified there since about the middle of December.
“The community involvement has been very helpful and critical to our response effort.,” said Health Department spokeswoman Janice Okubo.
State, county and local groups have planned a community update for 5:30 p.m. Jan. 14 at the beach park halau. Presentations are expected from David, the Mayor’s Office, Civil Defense, Hawaii police and fire departments, state Department of Land and Natural Resources, state Department of Health the Milolii CERT team and Paa Pono Milolii.
