Oahu convoy protests TMT and other development

Scores of people attended a rally Sunday at Kualoa Regional Park in support of opposition to the Thirty Meter Telescope on Mauna Kea and other “malama aina” issues in the islands.

The rally followed a convoy of vehicles organized by the loose-knit group Kia‘i Convoy that traveled around the island from East Kapolei, along the H-1 and H-2 freeways, through Wahiawa, onto Joseph P. Leong Highway, then onto Kamehameha Highway and around the North Shore to Kualoa.

Joshlyn Rodrigues, a co-coordinator of Kia‘i Convoy, estimated about 225 vehicles participated in the Sunday convoy, which was the second convoy organized by the group on Oahu. She said the goal was to keep the community engaged in issues across Hawaii and to participate in any way they can.

“We would like to see more people coming out and identifying with the group,” she said.

She said the drive went smoothly, except several people received tickets for driving with large flags attached to their vehicles. She said organizers were still tallying the number of people ticketed.

Kapolei resident Sterling Pedro said he was pulled over for having flags on his pickup during the convoy on the H-2 freeway. He said police stopped about 10 other drivers for flags at the same time.

He received a $97 ticket that said the flags near the back of his Toyota pickup were an “obstruction to driver’s view.”

Pedro, who drives a large dump truck for a living, plans to contest the ticket and said he is accustomed to driving a large vehicle with no rear view because the back window is completely blocked by the truck bed. He suspects police were “flexing their power,” but he remained focused on the growing movement.

At noon the group gathered at the park for protocol, a cultural practice and ceremony with oli, or chants. The ceremony was similar to the protocol done three times a day — at dawn, noon and sunset — by demonstrators on Mauna Kea, said Kaumaka Wong of Kuliouou, who helped organize the convoy.

She said the rally included lunch for attendees, workshops on the cultural significance of Kualoa, and voter registration to bring awareness to the voting process and to bring a change to those in office.

She said there were also information booths for attendees on other issues of concern, including the city’s proposal for play fields at Waimanalo’s Sherwood Forest and a planned wind farm in Kahuku. She said the movement was inspired by the battle against the TMT telescope on Mauna Kea.

Calvin Hoe, owner of Waiahole Poi Factory, and his family hosted the convoy at the park at the request of the organizers because the park is in his family’s neighborhood.

“What we’re trying to do is encourage every person here to be a leader,” he said. “That’s going to be the strength of our movement.”

He said Sunday’s convoy was an opportunity for residents from all over the island to participate in the action.

Hoe, who said he has been an activist since the 1970s, said he was part of the movement to stop development in Kualoa, Hakipuu, Waiahole and Waikane. He has been joining protesters recently on Mauna Kea, as well.

“The thing about Mauna Kea is the aloha,” he said, “the kapu aloha to make sure we do things in a pono way that is nonviolent.”

Nate Yuen, an accountant from Ewa Beach, said he’s been involved in protests in Kalaeloa, where wind turbine parts leave for the wind farm in Kahuku, and was also part of Sunday’s convoy and rally.

“I’m not Hawaiian but I do see the injustice,” he said, adding that he sees the state selectively enforcing the law and legal processes favoring large corporations.

He said the injustice arises in projects where “nobody wants them in their neighborhood, but they’re in neighborhoods where it’s easier to force this process on them.”

In addition, as a photographer of native plants and animals for 25 years, Yuen said he would like to see the community become better “stewards of the land.”