In troubled times, more aloha needed

What the world needs now is leaders with more aloha. It sounds cliche, but it’s true. The Star-Advertiser’s editorial, “Hawaii’s economy needs federal aid” (Our View, Dec. 17), is a fair assessment.

Yet more than money, we need a healthy dose of compassion and care from leadership. They must make it a point to acknowledge and address our needs, stop blaming average residents for not doing enough, and operate in the spirit of kokua and malama for all of Hawaii’s people suffering from a year of death, isolation and financial hardship.

The power of aloha has brought us together as an island community more in 2020 than in any year before, despite the daily crisis we live in. So now, more than ever, we need our leaders to show us more aloha in their public mandates, laws, lockdowns and funding priorities.

May 2020 end much better than it began. Happy holidays!

Shana Wailana Logan

Hilo

Gambling not part of DHHL’s mandate

To be constantly under fire for not following guidelines and procedures can be quite an embarrassment.

But I guess the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands (DHHL) hasn’t learned its lesson yet. It continues to ignore the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act of 1920 by proposing to build a casino in Kapolei (“Hawaiian Home Lands considers proposal to build casino in Kapolei,” Star-Advertiser, Dec. 16).

If I was a beneficiary, I would have been shocked and angered by such a proposal, especially to learn of it not through protocol but by a public post.

Building a casino isn’t part of Prince Jonah Kuhio’s vision. A casino isn’t part of rehabilitating the Hawaiian race on more than 200,000 acres of preserved land for agricultural and residential purposes.

If DHHL continues to dishonor the HHC Act, then its leaders need to excuse themselves from their seats or be removed.

Alexis M. Liftee

Kakaako

There should be no gambling in the 808

The real issue is, no gambling in the 808, period. The bombshell announced by the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands is a bold move (“Hawaiian Home Lands considers proposal to build casino in Kapolei,” Star- Advertiser, Dec. 16). I believe its ideology is not from the DHHL, but is because of the downturn of the state’s economy caused by COVID-19.

Using gambling to shorten the waitlist is appalling and underhanded, since the state has not allocated its full share of funding to DHHL, as required by law, when the economy was booming. Past Legislatures opposed legalizing gambling in the 808; don’t use COVID-19 and the Hawaiians as the scapegoat to try again.

The solution is to pass new laws that authorize DHHL to offer the beneficiaries “self-help” opportunities, whereby each lessee and their ohana can build their own home at a lower cost and expeditiously.

Self-help projects have been used to rebuild homes on homestead lands in Waimanalo by Habitat for Humanity.

Johnnie-Mae L. Perry

Waianae

Change travel rule to 3 calendar days

I am requesting a change to the Hawaii requirement for a negative COVID-19 test result within 72 hours of departure in order to skip the mandatory quarantine.

Can we instead make it a simple three-calendar-day requirement? The East Coast time difference makes traveling to Hawaii difficult to arrive within 72 hours of testing. For example: on Monday, a trusted partner tests me at 2 p.m. in New York (9 a.m. Hawaii time). On Thursday morning, I catch a 9 a.m. flight to Los Angeles with my negative results downloaded in the Hawaii Safe Travels program.

After a two-hour layover, I am on my flight to Honolulu, arriving at 7 p.m. Hawaii time. I am now 82 hours past my test time.

How can I qualify when testing sites are currently overwhelmed and the only appointment I can get is at 2 p.m. in New York?

Dee Brock

Mililani

Kailua needs a usable boat ramp

Thank you for publishing Toni Pedro’s article on the Kailua boat ramp (“Kailua Beach boat ramp needs emergency repairs quickly,” Star-Advertiser, Island Voices, Dec. 17). This is a subject over which the community has fought with the city and state for many years. One excuse was that the ramp would have to conform to the Americans with Disabilities Act, which makes it a big project and too expensive. The other was that neither the city nor the state owned it. Yet, signs suddenly appeared, reserving parking for trailers, but just used for car parking.

The city responded to my letter with this: “If the city is forced to accept responsibility for the ramp, we will demolish and remove it.”

The ramp has been a major safety hazard for many years. It is amazing that children, who slide down it daily, have not been seriously injured in the huge crack underwater. Boaters routinely get stuck, people do get hurt, and some smaller boats have resorted to launching off the beach. It is ridiculous that Kailua does not have a usable boat ramp.

Brian Barbata

Kailua

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