Honolulu Civil Beat - September 19, 2012
Governor Neil Abercrombie blasted critics of the Public Land Development Corporation in a story in the Honolulu Star-Advertiser on Monday.
Abercrombie dismissed critics in the environmental, Native Hawaiian and labor communities — including many who want the corporation abolished because of a potential threat to the environment — as the “usual suspects” who used public hearings this summer on the corporation’s draft administrative rules to create “conspiratorial hysteria.”
Now, PLDC opponents are fighting back.
Jonathan Osorio, a professor of Hawaiian Studies at the University of Hawai`i at Manoa, has responded to the governor’s comments in a Community Voice’s piece published by Civil Beat - A Kanaka Maoli’s Objection to the PLDC.
He writes, in part -
"Now I will be passionate. The Crown and Government lands of the Kingdom belong to the descendants of the citizens of the Hawaiian Monarchy. If the Governor and the Legislature want to manage our lands more effectively for the benefit of every resident in Hawai`i while we sort out our legal disagreements, I support that. But exempting a government agency or a private company exempt from law is not effective management, and all of your finger pointing, Governor Abercrombie, will not make it so."
Robert Harris, executive director of the Hawaii Sierra Club, told Civil Beat that he found the governor’s comments disappointing.
“Ten years ago, I think Neil would have been one of the primary advocates for making sure the public’s voice is heard. And now the shoe seems to be on the other foot.”
