So what happened to this land....As the story goes, the land was "given" to large land owner Kohala Sugar Plantation by the State of Hawaii when they realized they did not have the deed to the property. In 1981 the Kohala Sugar Plantaton's phase out project called The Kohala Taskforce was actually the cleanup crew in preparation of the lands being sold to a Texas outfit. It then was sold to a Japanese business calling themselves Chalon International, Inc. Locals smelled real estate being sold when this happened. Their first project being MAHUKONA, a proposed resort which in 1993 was still in a lawsuit with Kohala community group Hui Lihikai for almost a decade. It went to the supreme court and Chalon Int'l did not receive their permits to develop their resort. However they could develop a golf course but who would invest in a project of a golf course without a resort....so Chalon was at a standstill and in need of cash flow.This then brought leases with agriculture to make some money and then in more real estate being sold to high end individuals. Today they are back in MAHUKONA but they are now calling themselves Surety Kohala and their developer is Kohala Preserve Conservation Trust, LLC. It's the same 'ole players changing names and playing politics. They are not going to preserve anything. Since they can't build their resort, why not then high end homes and build near and around our only Navigational Heiau and NUMEROUS pre-contact kanaka maoli sites. Stop calling it a cultural center when in fact there is nothing cultural about disrespcting our past and their pathways. I can tell you "chicken skin" true stories about blocking pathways of our deceased whether in trails or canoe houses but that's another blog post later.So today, this Mahukona Project is being endorsed by the Kawaihae Canoe Club and what they are being sold is the "cultural center". Did they know that one of their paddlers (unless he recently quit to protect self interest) was the original attorney on the Chalon vs Hui Lihikai lawsuit? Do they even remember any kind of lawsuit? Did the Kawaihae Canoe Club know of agreements Chalon, known today as Surety Kohala; made with our community which the County must enforce? The County was also included in this same lawsuit. I know there are koko who paddle for the club and I mean no disrespect to them personally or as a whole as a club - U GUYS ARE BEING DECEIVED...ask our community who have been in battle of our coastline for over 30 years what's going on. It is sad that we have the north and south split and what's happening in the north they try to pursuade those in the south to go against us where WE live and want to protect because of all the NUMEROUS pre-contact kanaka maoli archaeological sites of significance. We want OPEN SPACE and CONSERVATION not protection by weeding the landscape and exposing change to an area where the mana will seriously change. Is this cultural? What is cultural is PROTECTION ALL THE WAY, NOT HALF WAY.Land = Profit in today's economy and it also means homelessness for our people. It means poor water, poor or no food or unhealthy food on our table. Would you eat fish out of the Ala Wai? And why not? It shouldn't be this way for our people. Development changes our landscape on land and in the ocean. In chieftan times of old, when kanaka maoli suffered it was considered a disgrace to a good chief for it was unheard of. We need to all take care of each other and one way of doing that is to protect lands and protect our past all for our futureSo as to MAHUKONA, here's a link to find out what is the status and letters I and KAKO'O sent this month to the County Planning Director. http://kamakani.org/mahukonapermits.html
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