Kakaako Makai is a nearshore reef that was a precious resource to the Native Hawaiian people. This reef would vary in salinity because of freshwater from the rain, springs, ponds and estuaries in the area. The nutrient-rich brackish-water ecosystem that existed in Kakaako Makai was highly protected, well utilized, cherished, and cared for by Hawaiian royalty. This area provided vast amounts of salt and a plethora of protein-rich fish, crustaceans and octopus.

Though Honolulu and Waikiki became much more famous, Hawaiians recognized the importance of Kakaako by creating fish and salt ponds to cultivate these important natural resources. Hawaiians love and cherish Kakaako Makai as it was and still is popular for swimming, diving and wave riding. Many famous Hawaiians wrote dozens of songs and chants telling of its natural beauty and profound history.

Since 1887, this entire area began to change as dredged material of sand, mud and loose rocks extracted from Honolulu Harbor, Kewalo Basin and the Ala Wai were used as “fill” to create what we know today as Kakaako Makai, Ala Moana Beach Park and Magic Island. These filled-in nearshore reefs were also used as dumps where glass, metal, vehicles, incinerator-created ashes and a myriad of toxins were literally placed over and buried within these dredged materials.

Sadly, this was a common practice on the island of Oahu and was performed extensively in Pearl Harbor where dozens of fishponds and nearshore reefs were literally “filled in” by those involved with the colonization and urbanization of Hawaii.

OHA needs to recognize the fact that Kakaako Makai is a nearshore reef that was covered by dredged material, mixed with a hazardous and toxic dump, and is now primarily covered with concrete and asphalt. If OHA holds claim to these 30 acres, it will face infinite challenges from the broader community who, since 2006, have fought tirelessly against residential proposals from Alexander & Baldwin and the state’s Hawaii Community Development Authority. After A&B and the HCDA were both unsuccessful in their residential housing efforts before 2012, parcels of Kakaako Makai were offered to OHA to settle a $200 million ceded land settlement.

It is obvious that OHA made an impulsive decision and did not do its homework before accepting these 30 acres in Kaakako Makai offered by then-Gov. Neil Abercrombie. Eleven years later and after five failed attempts to persuade the Legislature to repeal the prohibition against residential building in Kakaako Makai, I firmly believe OHA should go back to the state of Hawaii and return these 30 acres and receive, instead, fair cash compensation for the $200 million that was ruled in its favor back in 2012.

This is what I believe is best for the beneficiaries of whom OHA is mandated to serve. Any type of residential housing allowed in Kakaako Makai will have no positive effect on the statewide housing crisis and will make matters worse. It has now been 11 years and OHA has not created a viable master plan of what to do with these 30 acres, nor has it built any permanent structures to benefit its Native Hawaiian beneficiaries.

The waste and abuse of monies that OHA has spent on Kakaako Makai since 2012 must end today. This area should never be allowed for any type of residential development. OHA needs to leave Kakaako Makai immediately so that the state of Hawaii can expand Kakaako Waterfront Park, as the population in this area has unfortunately ballooned to well over 20,000 people during the past decade; I have fought vehemently against all the Howard Hughes Corp.’s high-rise skyscrapers since 2008.

Kanekoa Kaumuali‘i Clifton Crabbe is vice chairperson of the Kakaako Makai Community Planning Advisory Council; the views expressed here are his own.