HONOLULU (AP) — Former Hawaii Gov. Ben Cayetano is urging President Donald Trump to end the federal government’s spending deal with Honolulu on a billion-dollar rail project.
Cayetano criticized the project in an ad featured in the Washington Post on Friday. The ad was paid for by the Princess Abigail K. Kawananakoa Foundation, which previously paid for a lawsuit challenging the validity of Honolulu City Council votes for the transit project.
Cayetano has asked Trump to withhold the $800 million left in the Federal Transit Administration’s $1.55 billion full funding grant agreement.
“Honolulu’s rail project does not deserve a single dollar more from the federal government,” the ad states. “It has become a poster boy for how politics incompetence, disinformation and outright lies are at the root of wasteful rail projects which do little for the public except raise taxes.”
Cost estimates for the 20-mile rail project have jumped from $5 billion in 2014 to nearly $10 billion.
Cayetano’s ad comes as the project is about $3 billion short of being fully funded and Hawaii lawmakers consider a proposal to extend Oahu’s general excise tax surcharge to help pay for the project.
In a statement Friday, Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell praised the project and said voters have supported the rail project in several election cycles.
“I remain focused on working really hard to extend the city’s half-percent rail surcharge for at least another 10 years,” Caldwell said. “This will allow the country’s first driverless train to reach all the way to Ala Moana Center and ensure a viable project. That’s what the people of Oahu expect, and that’s what I’m concentrating on.”
The city and its rail agency face an April 30 deadline to provide the Federal Transit Administration with a recovery plan detailing how they aim to deal with the funding troubles and build a reliable system.