CINDY ELLEN RUSSELL / CRUSSELL@STARADVERTISER.COM
Self-Help Housing Corp. of Hawaii held a blessing and ground breaking ceremony in Waianae on Wednesday. The non-profit is assisting 70 low-income families build their own homes on land overlooking Pokai Bay. The first several homes are about finished after two years of work. Pictured are homes which are near completion.
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It’s not at all unusual here to hold down two and three jobs. For some folks, add one more: homebuilder. The nonprofit Self-Help Housing Corp. of Hawaii has rallied 70 families who in turn assembled teams to build most of their own homes, in the Village Pokai Bay subdivision. The reward is the house built from their sweat equity. It’s an incredibly difficult commitment — just try doing this work on your time off — but the only way many could see their way to homeownership. Congratulations to all.
Sad state of the Navatek II
It’s a sad sight: the once-sleek Navatek II squatting on its twin hulls, left high and dry on an empty lot at the Ala Wai Boat Harbor.
Once a luxury dinner-cruise vessel with a “Jurassic Park II” film credit, it’s now a derelict catamaran, impounded by the state after its permit ran out and it began listing at its mooring. No one wanted to buy it at auction. It’s too bad the owners have been unable to maintain the Navatek II as a profitable enterprise.
Still, they have no business trying to avoid the cost of disposal. The state is right to attempt to collect on the debt.