Gov. David Ige mum on how much money budgeted to deal with protests against Thirty Meter Telescope

More money to deal with the ongoing protests against the Thirty Meter Telescope has been tucked away in the proposed new budgets of various state departments, but Gov. David Ige and his staff aren’t saying exactly how much.

State and county officials have so far publicly reported spending $11.7 million coping with the protests at the base of Mauna Kea Access Road, but Ige said on Monday the actual cost thus far has been $15 million. Staff for Ige said Tuesday that amount is an estimate, and a specific breakdown was not available.

In the meantime, the Hawaii County Council is scheduled to consider a resolution today authorizing Mayor Harry Kim to enter into an agreement with the state to accept up to $10 million in state funding to help cover the continuing cost of deploying county police officers on Mauna Kea during the protests.

A number of council members are unhappy with the decision to keep officers on the mountain, but the Kim administration acknowledged earlier this month that Kim signed the agreement with the state without first consulting the council about the matter.

The protesters are encouraging their supporters to attend the council hearing today to object to the state-county agreement that requires the deployment of county police at the protest site.

The access road has been closed since July 15, and protesters who oppose construction of the $1.4 billion telescope have camped on the road to prevent construction equipment from reaching the summit area to resume site work on the TMT project.

Law enforcement officers arrested 39 people on July 17 in an unsuccessful effort to clear the road, but police have not attempted to remove the blockade since then. Instead, police have kept themselves busy on the mountain by issuing more than 8,000 traffic citations on the Daniel K. Inouye Highway since mid-August.

The protesters have said the telescope is a desecration of a mountain that many Hawaiians consider to be sacred, while TMT supporters say the project has secured all of the necessary state and county permits, and has the right to proceed. Ige has said repeatedly he is committed to “the rule of law” and reopening the road, but the barricade remains in place.

“As you are aware, we’ve spent about $15 million trying to provide safe and secure access for Mauna Kea.,” Ige said Monday at a budget briefing for reporters. “We continue to work and have discussions with the county, the TMT project itself and other stakeholders in our community in search of a peaceful resolution.”

Ige said he asked his departments to develop contingency plans and budgets “should the disagreement on Mauna Kea Access Road continue.”

“None of us had anticipated what effort would be required to assure safe and peaceful access, ” Ige said. “So, certainly it’s costed more than we thought it would, but part of the notion is that we believe we have an obligation to ensure that those that are legally permitted with projects have the ability to access their constructions sites so that the projects can move forward.”

When asked if there is a point where the state would stop spending money on the effort, Ige replied that “we’re committed. We’re working and talking with the project, trying to understand what their needs are, and being able to support them.”

Ige said TMT has obtained all the legal permissions it needs, and “I’m committed to ensuring that they can get access to the site.”

House Finance Chairwoman Sylvia Luke said the administration requested funding for Mauna Kea enforcement last year, but lawmakers rejected that request because it was unclear exactly how the money would be used.

This year, lawmakers are unsure exactly how much Ige is setting aside to deal with the protests. “I think there has to be additional discussion about what is the plan. As far as we know, there has been no movement, so what is the likelihood of the Legislature to fund something that has no movement?” Luke said. “Is that the best use of money?”