I am extremely dismayed by the comments made the anti-Thirty Meter
Telescope protest leaders in a recent article regarding the placing the
educational
Hoku Kea telescope at Hale Pohaku. They’re opposed to locating it there
because it will negatively affect the environment and bring additional
traffic to the mountain.
These protesters need to look in mirror, as their TMT protest encampment
at Maunakea Access Road has negatively impacted an environmentally
sensitive
area. Their encampment contains rubbish, abandoned vehicles, permanent
campsites w/ tents, etc. In addition, there is metal barrels that
contain an unknown substance near the permanent camping area.
The state and county have enabled this campsite to remain. The county
graded an
campsite area with taxpayer funded manpower and materials. This action
should’ve
triggered a permitting requirement, but did not. I’ve also repeatedly
complained to the
Department of Hawaiian Homelands, the owner of the land under the
encampment,
but have only received lip service.
This eyesore needed to be cleaned up yesterday, but it still remains.
I’m afraid nothing
will be done until the TMT impasse is resolved. In other words, these
protesters intend to hold the entire community hostage with this
eyesore until the TMT decides to leave or scrap the project entirely. If
this indeed their intention, it goes to show they don’t care about the
environment one bit.
The Department of Hawaiian Homelands, and the ani-TMT protesters need to
clean
up their encampment by Maunakea Access Road immediately, which will
allow this
environmentally sensitive area heal.
Aaron Stene
Kailua-Kona