TMT opponents seek Japanese support as hiatus for telescope continues

As a pause in the Thirty Meter Telescope project at the summit of Mauna Kea continued, telescope opponents calling themselves kiai, or protectors of the mountain held sacred by many Native Hawaiians, took a break from their Big Island vigil to travel to Oahu on an outreach mission.

Citing Gov. David Ige’s mid-January trip to Japan, where he met with stakeholders about the state’s continued commitment to TMT, the kiai Monday morning delivered a statement to the Consulate- General of Japan, explaining their position and inviting the Japanese nation to join them in opposition to the project, said Kaho‘okahi Kanuha, one of the protest leaders.

“We’re calling upon the Japanese people to recognize the kanaka maoli (Native Hawaiians) as a people with a living culture, history, language and spiritual/religious practices, who have a sacred and revered mountain in Mauna Kea as they do in Mount Fuji,” Kanuha said, noting that copies of the letter in English and Japanese were handed outside the consulate to a representative of Consul General Koichi Ito.

Stating that building the TMT would inflict irreparable harm upon the kanaka maoli “and our national lands that were illegally seized by the U.S. in 1893,” and invoking an 1871 treaty signed between the kingdom of Hawaii and Japan, the letter asked that Japan withdraw all support for the telescope’s construction.

Asked whether the kiai had received any assurances of an extension of a two-month moratorium on construction announced by Big Island Mayor Harry Kim in late December, “As far as we know, there was never an intent (for TMT workers) to move in once the so-called truce was over,” Kanuha said.

In December, when the state removed its officers from the site and Kim made his announcement, the kiai had moved their tents out of Mauna Kea Access Road, which they had blocked, while permitting occasional passage to existing telescopes’ staff, since the protest began in July.

But they “continue to have a constant presence” by the side of the road, Kanuha said, and are ready to resume their positions “if there is a threat of any movement” to proceed with constructing the TMT.

Kim in February asked the TMT for a two-month extension of “this period of so-called quiet time,” as he referred to the moratorium. In a phone interview Monday, Kim said he had not yet received a reply from TMT representatives.

“We are not prepared to move forward with construction on Maunakea anytime soon,” TMT spokesman Scott Ishikawa wrote Monday in an email.

The TMT board, he added, was reviewing the issue and would contact Ige’s office when they reached a decision.

“Gov. Ige continues to support the project and work with legislators, individuals and community leaders in Hawaii to develop a respectful way forward,” said Cindy McMillan, the governor’s director of communications, in an email.