Disappeared News

“The lands to be given to OHA seem to be ground zero for tsunami inundation.”—OHA Kakaako land deal may be all wet (11/17/2011)

Why begin a blog post by quoting myself? Well, coverage of the OHA Kakaako land transfer deal seems to omit this fact—the land around the edge of Kakaako is outside the “red line” drawn by the University of Hawaii as the tsunami inundation zone for that area.

So who else should I quote?

The transfer is an incredibly big deal. I’d like you to click over to a story on the Courthouse News Service website, Hawaii Land Question May Be Resolved (Courthouse News Service, 1/13/2012). This article is the best  background to the land transfer that I have seen. It’s a good bit of research.  It’s not related to the tsunami inundation issue, but shouldn’t the quality of the land somehow enter into the discussion?

Aside from the background, the author appears to be paying good attention to the politics behind the deal. For example, this snippet:

Gov. Neil Abercrombie and Attorney General David Louie, in partnership with OHA, proposed the settlement in November 2011 and are beginning to issue executive orders for parcels throughout the Hawaiian Islands.

The OHA represents Hawaiians both legally and culturally in the settlement, which would include conveyance of 30 acres of oceanfront parcels in Honolulu's Kaka'ako Waterfront Park and Fisherman's Wharf.

The proposed settlement gives the state continued easements and ground and water rights. That's because part of the Kaka'ako area may be part of a High-Capacity Transit Corridor railroad that is still in litigation in Federal Court.

So the land will be for the benefit of the Hawaiian people unless, that is, we need to put a train there. ??

Please click over to the Courthouse News Service story. When you come back, have another look at my older articles below.

Related:

OHA Kakaako land deal may be all wet (11/17/2011)

Putting two and two together—OHA land transfer and secret government/private development meetings (11/30/2011)

Permalink posted by Larry @ 2/13/2012 07:25:00 AM