Spirited Hilo protest today (May 3rd) against Pohakuloa bombing and base expansion plans
Aloha peace ohana,
The Aloha ‘Aina Hawaii group that initiated an Aloha ‘Aina contingent in last week’s Merrie Monarch parade, sponsored a 10-noon protest today, May 3rd, at the intersection of Hwy 11 and Hilo airport road. About 50 people turned out on short notice to protest ongoing bombing at Pohakuloa Training Area (PTA) and base expansion plans being pushed by Hawaii Congresswoman Colleen Hanabusa who is now running for the U.S. Senate against Senator Brian Schatz. The protest was well received by people in passing cars and buses. The dominant signs were “Aloha ‘Aina, and Stop the Bombing.” In addition to calling for no base expansion, people called for shutting down Pohakuloa, and clean up of the toxic mess there from more than 50 years of bombing, including the used of Depleted uranium (DU) weapons.
I personally sent Rep. Hanabusa an email objecting to her call for expansion at PTA and criticizing her for her failure to take action to address DU contamination at the base. I requested that she meet with people concerned about these issues on her next visit to the Big Island.
Meanwhile two Native Hawaiians, Clarence Ku Ching and Mary (Maxine) Kahaulelio, have sued the State DLNR over the State’s failure to protect trust lands at Pohakuloa. (See article below for more details)
Please join the movement for Aloha ‘Aina to stop the bombing of Pohakuloa and prevent military expansion on our island. It’s time for military Clean up NOT Build up and return the land to its rightful owners — the Native Hawaiian people.. We need everyone’s talent and involvement in this historic movement for non-violent social change for the sacred ‘aina and future generations.
Jim
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Jim Albertini Malu ‘Aina Center For Non-violent Education & Action P.O. Box 489 Ola’a (Kurtistown) Hawai’i 96760 Phone 808-966-7622 Email ja@malu-aina.org www.malu-aina.org This communication may be unlawfully collected and stored by the National Security Agency (NSA) in secret. The parties to this email do not consent to the retrieving or storing of this communication and any related metadata, as well as printing, copying, re-transmitting, disseminating, or otherwise using it. If you believe you have received this communication in error, please delete it immediately.
State Sued Over Its Failure to Protect Pohakuloa
A cultural practitioner and a Hawaiian Home Lands lessee sued the Department of Land and
Natural Resources and William Aila yesterday over their failure to protect trust lands at
Pohakuloa. Clarence Ching and Mary Kahaulelio, represented by the Native Hawaiian Legal
Corporation, claim that Aila and the department have duties as trustees to prevent ceded lands
from being harmed.
In 1964, the State agreed to lease three parcels of land at Pohakuloa to the federal government
for military purposes. Lease conditions, however, require that the Army “make every reasonable
effort to . . . remove or deactivate all live or blank ammunition” and to “remove or bury all trash,
garbage or other waste materials.” According to Ching, who has cultural ties to the land, “The
State has taken no steps to investigate or monitor the Army’s compliance with the terms of the
lease. But the State’s own records show that it knows that unexploded ordnance litters the
landscape.” Kahaulelio, who lives on Hawaiian Home land in Waimea, added, “The State has
done nothing to make sure that the Army complies with the terms of the lease. It can’t just sit on
its ‘okole while trust lands are damaged. Like the king, chiefs, and konohiki before it, the
state has a solemn duty to malama
According to the complaint filed in circuit court Monday, while Aila is “aware that military
training activities have caused great damage to public land, natural resources and cultural sites in
Hawai’i,” his and the State’s continued inaction as trustees of the land at Pohakuloa condone
further destruction and damage. Ching and Kahaulelio are asking the court to order the State to
fulfill its trust duties and to block the State from negotiating an extension of the lease with the
Army as long as the terms of the lease are being violated. The Pohakuloa lease expires on August
16, 2029.
NHLC Attorney David Frankel is the lead attorney on the case.
For more information, please call the Native Hawaiian Legal Corporation at (808) 521-2302
