Your Chance to Object: Save Kahului Surf Break

Testify at the public meeting, Wednesday Jan 23 6:00pm at the Cameron Center. Tell DOT and Lingle what you think of destroying the Kahului Surf Break for the cruise ships and Superferry.

Demand DOT solve the parking problem they'll create for the small boat ramp.

Tell them to prioritize harbor users so that Hawaiian cultural activities and freight take precedence over cruise ships. That's a zero dollar solution.

Ask them what they plan on doing with the Superferry barges for which we paid $40,000,000 of taxpayer money.

Ask why they're spending another 1/3 of a billion dollars to dock the Superferry which will most likely be out of business before the dock is built, given that they're averaging fewer than 150 passengers per trip and only 20-50 cars and bleeding red ink.

Ask DOT why we're paying 1/3 of a billion dollars for cruise ships when we don't even want them here. Ask why we taxpayers are footing the bill for the cruise ships when the cruise ships refuse to stop dumping their sewage and garbage into our ocean (which an hour later washes up at Kanaha and Waiehu beaches). Ask why we're still subsidizing the cruise ships when they unilaterally stopped observing the memorandum of understanding which said they'd only dump outside the 7 mile limit. (They're dumping right outside the 3 mile limit now.)

Why does Lingle have all this money for cruise ships and the Superferry but we're stuck in traffic every day because we don't have the Lahaina or Paia Bypasses yet?

The only good thing about this plan is that a small amount of the 1/3 billion dollars will go to fix up Pier 2 for our freight and it gets the cruise ships and Superferry out of the way of freight.

Let's start taking better care of our freight docks and get passenger ships completely out of Kahului Harbor - at a saving of $300,000,000! When you think about it, we have a choice between fishing, surfing and paddling in Kahului Harbor or cruise ships. Pretty obvious choice given all the detrimental effects of cruise ships (traffic, sewage dumping, very little revenue that comes to Maui, crime associated with the cruise ship workers, etc.)

Here's the details of the meeting:

Wednesday, January 23 at the Cameron Center:

• An informal workshop for Kahului Harbor Users scheduled between 3:30 and 4:45 PM. This is to give us all a chance to talk about the alternatives and impacts of changes in Kahului Harbor.

• A public meeting scheduled between 6:00 and 9:00 PM. This will include a brief
introduction to the 2030 Master Plan and EIS, followed by an opportunity to provide
public testimony. People may choose to make brief oral presentations, or submit written
comments. Forms that can be handed at the meeting or mailed later will be available.