Letters

State Law Grants Access to La`au

Tuesday, September 18th, 2007

In his most recent effort to defend the development of Lā‘au,  MPL’s John Sabas praises their plan which will increase human access to this pristine area.  He is especially proud of MPL’s proposal to open up the coastal footpath to the public so that people won’t have to walk along the beach.

Although this appears generous, the reality is that the coastal trail to La’au is already open to the public.  Under Chapter 264-1(b) of the Hawaii Revised Statutes, any trail in existence as of the Highways Act of 1892 is automatically a legal public trail and the public has access to it. Such is the case with the traditional trail to La’au  which predates this time. In recognition of this law, the “Native Hawaiian Legal Corporation” is requesting that maps from 1886, which show the exact location of the ancient trail, be publicized in the final La’au Point EIS.

Adventures of the Not-So-Superferry

Friday, August 31st, 2007

Adventures of the not-so-superferry.

“Wanna be Hawaiian”

Thursday, August 30th, 2007

I have a favorite picture on the living room wall of our house. It’s actually a photocopy from a magazine of a rare portrait done by Herb Kane in which he depicts Kamehameha on his death bed holding both hands out to his beloved and aged haole friend John Young. In this portrait John Young is dressed in western style clothes, however he is sitting in a uniquely Hawaiian style displaying humility and reverence to his king and dear friend.  The portrait gives evidence of two warriors who have faced death and life together. The deep sense of aloha that is portrayed between these two men is impossible to ignore.

While the history of Hawaii is full of stories of the treachery of American and European Business men and of the manipulation and steeling of lands from the descendants of missionary families, history fails to recognize the many haoles and other foreigners who became a part of Hawaii, who spoke the language, and lived the culture. Some were maka‘āinana and some ‘ali‘i. This is what made Hawaiian culture so unique. The culture of this ‘āina was not exclusive.  It’s arms were open wide to the stranger. Everyone was taken care of.

Farewell Molokai `Opio

Friday, August 24th, 2007

It’s that time of the year when Molokai’s youth head off to the outer islands and the mainland. Some of them are fresh 2007 grads while others have just come back during the summer break. While many of these proud Molokai-born will return to visit, very few will return to stay.

It is a heart wrenching reality for the families whose children leave the nest. It is an accepted truth that in order to make a go in life our young must move on to the outside world where experience and a wider perspective await.

Unfortunately it is also widely believed that by returning to Molokai our youth forfeit their opportunity of having a good job, owning a home or supporting a family. Thus many of our youth remain away.

And it’s not just Molokai’s children. In fact, there are more native Hawaiians who live outside of Hawaii than there are who remain. While it makes economical sense – a four bedroom home in Las Vegas for $150,000 versus a $500,000 3 bedroom shack on Molokai – it doesn’t mean that there is no option for returning.

Editorial Cartoon

Thursday, August 16th, 2007

Farming at the Center of Molokai’s Identity

Tuesday, August 7th, 2007

Farming at the Center of Molokai’s Identity

Here are some facts to consider: Molokai is unique in that agriculture is one of the main economic engines on the island, a fact stated by Bank of Hawaii Economist Paul Brewbaker at an Economic Summit on Molokai a few years ago. It creates more jobs and more revenue than tourism or any sector other than the service and government sectors. Revenue includes jobs created, services and supplies purchased, taxes, and products processed.

Farming is also the only industry that actually recharges the aquifer by returning most of the water back to the ground. That’s why this industry is so vital to the island. Even more vital are the food crop farmers. In the event this island should experience a disruption in our food supply, we have a better chance of survival on this little island in the middle of the sea.

If agriculture is in such bad shape, then why is it that each year, farmers have to cut back on their water use? This industry is experiencing growing pains. Water has become the major limiting factor in the expansion of agriculture on Molokai and, at over 2200+ acres, has reached its upper limit in the amount of acreage that can be kept in production at any given time, unless innovative ways are developed to conserve water. If agriculture weren’t viable, many farmers would have left Molokai to other islands, where large tracts of land are now available for farming. Even Larry Jefts keeps one foot on Molokai because we still have many competitive advantages over other farming areas.

There are many more opportunities in agriculture to create value-added products. The ‘multiplier effect’ is an economic term used to describe how value is added to a product. For example, fresh sweetpotato has a farm value of 85 cents per pound. Made into chips, its’ retail value jumps to over $15 per pound. Between 85 cents and $15, materials and supplies are purchased, jobs created, and raw materials processed along the way to create this product. All of this creates money for the state in the form on taxes, and also new jobs. This phenomenon is unique to agriculture and manufacturing.

The lifeline to the farming effort is the Molokai Irrigation System, for without it this industry wouldn’t exist. The system was built expressly for the homesteaders, but politics and race played into this decision, and the homesteaders were shortchanged. In order to allow for the construction of the MIS, the state had to set aside land for the non-homesteader, and 1/3 of the water was set aside for them. A land swap ensued, and 1,050 acres of Hawaiian Home Lands south of the airport was swapped with 243 acres in Waianae, considered at that time to be of comparable value. This is how the Molokai Agricultural Park was created.

Today, over 80% of the water is being used by non-homesteaders, and the real concern is when comes time to take the water back to the homesteads for expansion of agriculture, that the water will return without any major repercussions. If we start with a level field where everyone knows the rules, we shouldn’t have a problem.

Molokai Ranch bought out the Kaluakoi Hotel and remaining parcels in 1998, and did so mainly to secure the water from Well 17. They also assumed the agreement with the Department of Agriculture to transmit water from Well 17 in Kualapuu to Kaluakoi. But like its predecessors, Kaluakoi Corporation and Tokyo Kosan, Molokai Ranch has become a bad neighbor. Instead of carrying their own load, they have decided to lean on and take advantage of their neighbor’s goodwill by allowing their pumps to malfunction and fall into disrepair time and again.

This is not an isolated incident. In the last four years alone, from April 2003 to May 2006, the Molokai Ranch pump at Well 17 has broken down a total of 262 days. With the recent June-July 2007 breakdown of 36 days, this amounts to a total of 298 days that their pumps where broken and they weren’t putting water in the reservoir! Why bother when you can take advantage of the good will of your neighbor. The Hawaiian word for this is hana ‘ino. Good neighbors don’t keep leaning on others, and feeding off of them when they’re better off than their neighbors!

Moreover, this is a violation of the transmission agreement, which states that Molokai Ranch must put in water before they take out water, and are not allowed to store water in the reservoir. Molokai Ranch has shown the farmers they cannot be a responsible party to this agreement, which is why its surprising the farmers would even consider allowing this agreement to continue for 5 more years under more stringent conditions.

With all these water shenanigans, it’s quite understandable why homesteaders are so adamant about protecting their water. The above situation is only one reason. They know their Hawaiian Homes rights to this water. They’ve seen with their own eyes, and heard stories of their parents and grandparents struggles, of carrying water to their crops in buckets, of water only being available on certain days, and of droughts where the kupuna resorted to fasting and prayer so the rains would come to feed their parched crops. Of making poi palaoa (flour) and pumpkin poi to stretch the kalo poi when the weather made it difficult to grow or to make ends meet.

These are the things that you hold close to you and don’t take lightly, and they become a part of who you are, but more importantly, you learn from these struggles and experiences, hoping it never happens again, and that you don’t get used again. Red dirt is powdered gold, and the water that nourishes this red dirt is more valuable than gold. Over the last 26 years, I have heard these stories from the people who lived them, including Heine and Becky Mokuau, Johnny Pineapple Keohuloa, Danny and Louise Kekahuna, John Kaimikaua (the grandfather), James Wise, Kuamu Makaiwi Pelekai, my mother in law, Tilden Makaiwi Han, and others. Many of these individuals are gone, but their legacies live in their children, grandchildren, and ohana, many of whom are still farming today.

They grow banana and papaya, green onions, taro, sweetpotato, vegetables and fruits just like their forefather’s. They strive for self-sufficiency and live the dream of Prince Kuhio Kalanianaole in aina ho’opulapula, using their land to feed and teach their families, and produce more to sell. These are examples of perseverance, of resilience, and of beating all odds. These humble beginnings have bore fruit for many families, but they don’t talk about their successes because that’s not the Hawaiian way. They happily share with others, which make them the ‘richest’ people on this island due to their generosity.

Is La’au just another piece of Real Estate?

Tuesday, August 7th, 2007

A cultural perspective 

Just as it would be inconceivable to tear down the Sisteen Chapel or the Western  Temple wall in Jerusalem, likewise, it is just as inconceivable to pave over and develop the lands of La’au.  Even the destruction of a small church, synagogue or mosque is something that most would consider unacceptable, regardless of ones own religious orientation. What is unique and probably the most difficult aspect to perceive by those outside of the Hawaiian culture is that the land itself is what is most sacred.  

The metaphor that I have heard on several occasions refers to La’au as a child and the brothers and sisters of this child being Ka’ana, Kawakiu, Naiwa, and the other lands that will supposedly be saved under the Molokai Land Trust. We are told if we will sacrifice the child La’au and allow her to be molested and beaten to death, then we can keep the other children.  Would anyone consider sacrificing one of their own children in such a way in order that the others would live? To those who posses the traditional knowledge of the Kupuna, the ‘aina is ‘ohana, and this is why such a tradeoff will never be acceptable. 

“Ho’i i ka Pono” or “Return to the Pono” is the call that is being given at this time. The foundation of “Ho'i i ka Pono” is about setting into action a living model that will perpetuate pono in the spirit and life of the land and the people. The most common translation of pono is righteousness, however the word has many layers of meaning. One such understanding of pono is balance, a balance between God, Man, and the malama or stewardship of the land.   

Although  “Ho’i i ka Pono” involves the purchase of Molokai Ranch lands, it is not about real estate. It is about a collective effort to manage our island resources.  Under the traditional governing body of the ‘Aha Kiole, every district on the island would be involved and have a voice. And though Ho’i i ka Pono represents a return to traditional Hawaiian values, it is not about segregation, it is about unity. Regardless of ethnic background we are of one ‘ohana honua. All of us have important talents and gifts to contribute. 

Under this banner we will strive to see our lands returned and La’au as well as all of our culturally important areas permanently protected, and once again the people of Molokai will be restored to their rightful position as the caretakers of this island.  

The book of Second Chronicles makes it clear that if we will seek to know Ke Akua and if we will humble ourselves, begin to pray and live in pono, our lands  will be healed and restored. (2 Chronicles 7:14)  In truth, this is how we will bring prosperity and abundance to our island. Our best laid plans can not match up to the success that would follow the practice of this basic understanding. At this time we must pule and ask Ke Akua to reveal to us a deep sense of this pono so that it may rest in our collective na’au. Unified, Molokai is an unstoppable force! 

Ha’ule ka Lewa, Ha’ule ka Lani, Ho’ale ka lepo popolo

A time will come when the ali’I  will fall and be no more, but a time will come when the maka‘ainana (commoner)  will rise up and be restored 

These prophetic words were spoken by the Kahuna of Puku’i Heiau in the time of the ali’i Kahuumanu.  As told by Kumu John Ka’imikaua through the knowledge given to him by  Kawahinekapuheleikapokane

The Nicholas Times

Monday, July 16th, 2007

The Russians are Coming!

Monday, July 16th, 2007

The Russians are Coming!

The recent articles by Molokai Ranch CEO Peter Nicholas make life on Molokai very interesting and give us lots to talk about. From the tone of his letters, he seems to have overdosed on Li Hing Mui and the sour tone stays in his mouth. Every time I see the GEICO commercial with the Gecko speaking, I think of him. He even sent his same article to a national website called National Wind Watch; I guess he really wants to undermine our BTR effort at all cost. Quoting from the movie, Milagro Bean Field War, “Desperate times call for desperate measures.”

I still remember a another movie called ‘The Russians are Coming’. It starred Jonathon Winters and was about a boat load of lost Russian fisherman who crashed landed their boat somewhere along the Massachusetts coast. It was during the cold war when Americans were deathly afraid of a Russian invasion. The men of that community gathered arms, and Jonathon Winters put his five-year old son in charge of a family of four girls and his wife, and left to join the fight. Poor Russians were just as scared as the residents.

What makes Peter think the Russians cannot come even if HIS plan succeeds? They could buy lots at La’au or one of 500 rural lots at Kawakiu, or even a hotel site right there. Early on in the Master Land Use Plan meetings when we met at Home Pumehana, I saw that the area between the Kaluakoi Hotel and Kawakiu was a different color from the rest. I asked Peter about this and he said, “We won’t develop it; we’ll probably just sell it.” Well Peter, the Russians are coming, and nobody is going to stop them!

The military purchase was held over our heads throughout the Land Use process as a way of making us say yes. I can still remember in the early 70’s when the military held landing exercises at Papohaku, their landing craft were flipping over in the shore break like toys and a handful of these guys drowned. To even promote the desecration of land in the same breath as preserving is, like, bi-polar.

Peter is angry because Karen and MCSC didn’t come to him to talk about buying the Ranch.  But in the next breath he says he wouldn’t sell it anyway.  Why talk to the unwilling sergeant when you can talk to the general? The Ranch is just a commodity to the mother company, Guoco, and if you flash them the right amount of dim sums, they will give it to you lock stock and barrel.

Peter was sad that Karen didn’t get involved in the process, yet in his early community consultations with key leaders, he chose not invite Karen. I guess if you don’t invite everyone, the ones you leave out are the ones who may bite you on your okole. 

To tell us what is good for us is, well, arrogant and condescending at the least. This is definitely the Great White Father syndrome that you’re reverting back to. I think the first visitors to the islands did the same thing. We definitely speak a different language and this is why when you tell me we’ll keep some lands in agriculture, do you really mean more gentlemens estates or a field of dreams? Also, to compare Kainalu land values with West Molokai is like comparing sand crabs to Alaskan King crab for dinner. This is not pineapples and pineapples. To say we’re getting a good deal because you can sell it for more is questionable if you don’t have water.

I remember a story of one of Kamehameha’s battles on Maui on his way to the unification of the islands. As he made his way from Hana to Wailuku to his big battle at Kapaniwai near Iao with Kalanikupule, the son of Kahekili, he had these lesser battles along the way. In one of these skirmishes, he became overconfident because he believed his war god idol, Kukailimoku told him he was going to be victorious. That day, he barely escaped death.

What Kamehameha learned from that experience is to always have another way out of a predicament. Buying the Ranch is our other way out. Twenty years of fighting is twenty years too many. As we move through this EIS process, it becomes politically corrupt. We cannot depend on a political process that is expected to be pono when it’s not.

The only way we can stop this craziness about anybody else buying the ranch is to buy it ourselves. If the Nature Conservancy can attract all these millionaires looking for a tax break, why can’t we? The bottom line is the Ranch is for sale.

And Peter, regarding an Asian syndicate coming in, they already own the ranch.

Buy The Ranch campaign gives false hope

Monday, July 16th, 2007

Via the National Wind Watch Website

I can only describe the plan proposed by the Molokai Community Services Council and Karen Holt to purchase and operate Molokai Ranch as a cruel way of diverting the community’s attention away from the benefits and objectives of the Community-Based Master Land Use Plan for Molokai Ranch.

Giving the community false hope that MCSC can achieve this objective is grossly misleading for the following reasons:

Molokai Properties Limited or Molokai Ranch is not for sale
The company, its directors and shareholders are committed to the implementation of the Master Plan, its donation of 26,200 acres to the Molokai Land Trust, the re-opening of the Kaluakoi Hotel, the establishment of a Community Development Corporation funded by an initial $10 million from lots sales at La’au Point, placing protective easements on a further 24,000 acres that will prevent development and most importantly, an economic future for the company’s current staff and its ahupua’a community of Kaluakoi and Maunaloa.

MPL is committed to the Master Plan and will see it through. It’s the best result for everyone.

No Master Plan
In the event the Master Plan is prevented from being implemented, MCSC like every other potential buyer from around the world, can stand in line and bid for the more than 100-plus TMK’s that comprise the property and will be sold off over time. Have no doubt that this will be the outcome that will regrettably be forced on the company.

After a three year community process in which all the island was invited to participate, MPL shareholders will no longer be interested in any other course of action but selling off the property in pieces; an avenue that creates the greatest return for its shareholders.

In this event, MCSC would have to bid against other interested parties such as:

# The Military who have been interested in buying portions of La’au Point for training exercises involving amphibious and airborne landings.

# Russian millionaires who see the island’s remoteness as a destination for parties and events that they can’t hold in their own countries.

# Wind farm operators who want to build 100 wind turbines on the West End and supply power to Oahu, with little benefit to Molokai itself.

# An Asian syndicate interested in purchasing the Ironwoods golf course for their private and exclusive use.

And don’t think it wouldn’t happen or that anyone could stop it.

No approach from MCSC or Karen Holt why?
MPL has never received any approach or communication from MCSC or Karen Holt expressing an interest in purchasing Molokai Ranch.

If that approach had been made, it would have been rejected for the reasons described below.

Did MCSC and its people know this and, for this reason, not contact me or any other MPL director or senior staff member?

It’s very hard to conduct a campaign to “Buy the Ranch” when you’ve been told the potential vendor won’t sell it to you!!!

Who says $200 million would be an adequate purchase price?
MCSC is proposing a $200 million purchase price for MPL.

In the event that MPL is forced to sell its land piecemeal to the highest bidder, it would expect to receive, over time, far more than $200 million for all its property. The receipts would be more likely to be $300 million or more. It would be negligent to shareholders if anyone planned to sell the property off in pieces for anything less.

In January 2006, a desk-top valuation of MPL property was conducted by Oahu valuer Jim Hallstrom for the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. This valuation was forced on MPL’s ultimate parent, the Guoco Group, when a related party wanted to purchase additional shares in BIL.

That valuation stated that if MPL sold its property in pieces, over time, it could expect to receive a minimum of $203 million. It placed valuations on individual TMK’s that comprised the property.

But since January 2006, MPL has sold minimal amounts of property in order to fund its losses and stay cash positive at prices far in excess of those values that made up the $203 million!

People should also look to the recent sale of land at the East End to the Maui Coastal Land Trust at $14,000 an acre. Multiply that by 60,000 plus acres and its $840 million!

Why make a buyout attempt for 60,000+ acres when 26,200 acres or 40 percent of the property is being donated to the community under the Master Plan?
This makes no sense from a management or shareholder perspective. The appraised value of the donated lands, the drop in value of the lands earmarked for protective easements, and the funds going to the CDC from the La’au Point development totals $75 million.

# $40 million for the donated 26,200 acres.

# A minimum of a $25 million drop in value on easement lands.

# An initial $10 million from La’au Point lot sales and an income for the CDC in perpetuity from every subsequent sale.

The question must be asked whether MCSC want the lands for itself and doesn’t like the thought that a Molokai Land Trust, which it has advocated for many years, is outside its control.

The sad part is that if Karen Holt had been a willing participant in the Master Land Use Plan process, she could have made a valued and knowledgeable Land Trustee who would have brought much experience to the organization. Who knows, time might change her opposition.

How would MCSC plan to make MPL cash positive?
Even at $200 million, MCSC would need a lot more cash. MCSC says in its statement that MPL “profits” would be reinvested in community programs and all current jobs would be saved.

There are no profits and losses need to be funded. How would MCSC find the $30 million needed to re-open the Kaluakoi Hotel? Maybe they wouldn’t bother. No jobs at the Kaluakoi Hotel then!

MPL has a cash deficit from operations of approximately $3.5 million per annum.
The reason is that MPL continues to employ 140 staff and operates a cash-negative Lodge and Beach Village, a loss-making golf-course and pays huge Workers’ Compensation premiums and huge property maintenance costs.
So, if MCSC and Karen want to kill the Master Plan and the subsequent economic future for the company, they will need to be either extremely innovative, or ruthless. Or both!

To prevent continually putting in more cash, the new owners will need to either:

# Cut most of the staff costs of $4.5 million a year by firing staff; and/or

# Raise the accommodation rates at the L&BV to $800 per night and increase the golf course fees for everyone, including locals, to $190 per round of golf at both Kaluakoi and Ironwoods. Also they will need to increase water charges to Kualapu’u and Maunaloa residents from $1.90 per thousand gallons to $4 per thousand gallons.

Plan opposition folk have a lot of great ideas about how to make MPL profitable, but I have never found anyone offering to put in cash and joint venture with us on any of those wonderful schemes.

My responsibility to employees, our Molokai Ranch family
MPL employees have asked me, and I have given them a guarantee, that we will not contemplate selling to MCSC. They worry about their futures every day, and while they face turmoil with opposition to the Master Plan, they believe in The Plan and can visualize their futures with confidence.

They have told me on many occasions they would not wish to be employed by any organization or person that lacks strong for-profit business experience, has no deep understanding of finance, banking or structuring, or has a long-standing distrust of the company and its people.

Why doesn’t MSCS concentrate on the ALDC Alternative, a La’au Point Purchase?
The Alternative to La’au Point Development Committee was comprised of many concerned and caring young people on our island who wanted to find an alternative to MPL developing La’au Point, while recognizing MPL needs cash from a development to implement the Master Plan.

We have stated in the draft Environmental Impact Statement that has been filed with the Land Use Commission that we are willing to work with potential buyers of La’au Point as an alternative to its development.

Should MCSC and Karen Holt direct its energies to this and not confuse the community with a proposed buyout of the entire property that is just not going to happen?

Beware of strangers bearing gifts
My advice from the Conservation Fund, the largest protector of land in the U.S., and from discussions with the Maui Coastal Land Trust, is that there a few donors who give money without a “catch” or “hook.”

So, there is often what is called a “quid-pro-quo” in large donations. I believe you could count the people on one hand who will give large sums of money in the millions to the “Buy the Ranch” campaign without wanting something in return.
I would pose the question as to whether one of those is a company called UPC, a wind farm company that developed the wind-farms on Maui. That company itself initiated a proposal to a BIL parent company that offered $80 million to purchase the Ranch to follow a three-year option period of investigating whether wind farms would work on Molokai. UPC never contacted MPL directly.

UPC would build 100 or more wind turbines on the West End of the island and channel the 300MW of power to Oahu by undersea cable. Any land they didn’t need, they say, they would donate to a Land Trust. Only five new jobs would be created.

Their offer was rejected; it didn’t comply with the Master Plan for many reasons.
Imagine looking at Molokai from Oahu and seeing wind turbines swishing around as your dominant view of the island. Most would be sited on the north shore between Mo’omomi and Illio Point, the most pristine and ecologically important piece of coastline on Molokai! This is land being donated to the Land Trust in the coming months whether or not this Master Plan eventuates.

Who would want to see the destruction of pristine habitat and Native Hawaiian cultural legacy lands and the loss of view shed and open space on the entire West End with no economic benefit for Molokai?
By MPL President and CEO, Peter Nicholas