In an act that supporters call "historic," Kakaako Makai now belongs to the Office of Hawaiian Affairs.

The state gave OHA about 25 acres of contiguous parcels in Kakaako valued at about $200 million in partial payment for a long-standing debt.

Last week, Gov. Neil Abercrombie signed the bill, which his administration had authored and hand-carried unamended through the Legislature.

The ceremony at Washington Place featured singing, weeping, and dignitaries speechifying. It represented a debt paid, but not paid off.

Calling the deal "historic" is an overstatement.

It may prove to be as "historic" as you making your monthly credit card payment.

At the end of the day, you don’t owe anything, but tomorrow you are going to buy something, charge something and, by the end of the month, you will have another credit card bill.

So if you consider not compounding your debt with extra interest payments "historic," then it is. However, if what you want to do is not owe any more money, then that day has yet to come.

"Somewhere OHA needs to take up the question of a global settlement. They need to fish or cut bait," said Sen. Clayton Hee, the former OHA chairman, who doesn’t like the partial settlement.

Last week’s action paid the debt through the end of June. Starting in July, the state starts owing OHA money again. How much? Who knows? It is up to the state and OHA either coming to a global settlement like the one Hee prefers, or the meter just starts ticking again.

Not mentioned in all the songs and sobbing was the $15.1 million that the state will continue paying to OHA. That is the yearly payment owed from past agreements. OHA attorneys say that payments will continue.

"It does no good to anyone, Hawaiians and others to continue to stay on the public dole forever," Hee said. "OHA needs to persuasively argue to state government that it is prepared to embark on a global settlement."

That almost happened back when Ben Cayetano was governor. OHA in 1999 was offered $251 million, plus 20 percent of the ceded lands (365,000 acres), with the understanding that OHA would not sue the state asking for any more land or payments. Those talks never reached agreement.

Hee, who is chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, noted in his committee report on the Kakaako Makai settlement: "This measure does not represent a final settlement of all of the longstanding ceded land claims, nor does it encompass all ceded land parcels within the lands identified as the Kakaako Makai area."

Instead, Abercrombie and the Legislature signed an agreement with OHA that postpones a final tally.

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Richard Borreca writes on politics on Sundays, Tuesdays and Fridays. Reach him at rborreca@staradvertiser.com.