Amazingly, many people in the islands seem to be siding with Molokai Ranch and blaming the "activists" for MR shutting down its operations and laying off workers. Never mind that HUNDREDS of Molokai residents had turned out for public meetings to protest against MR's plans to build 200 luxury McMansions on pristine La'au oceanfront! It was not just a handful of "protesters" who weren't willing to sell out.
What the local media has failed to report is residents were rightly concerned about little things like, um... water. Yep, a lot of water would have been diverted to provide lush green lawns and fill swimming pools for those millionaires. And, oh yeah, there would only be two public accesses to La'au beach -- five miles apart.
In effect, the millionaire buyers would have private beaches. And now Molokai Ranch is saying it will deny access to shoreline areas that they own, which is about one third of the entire island. The people of Hawaii should be outraged. For Molokai residents, the ocean is not just a place for recreation. Many of them fish and hunt to help feed their families. It's a way of life there. They are "real" Hawaiians.
Instead of blaming "activists" for asking MR's billion-dollar parent corporation in Singapore to consider less invasive options, we should be supporting them for taking a stand against over-development. Go look at parts of Maui and Kauai that are now crowded and overbuilt. Or check out the gated luxury subdivisions for the super-wealthy on the Big Island's Kohala Coast. That's what they were opposing.
Lee Cataluna wrote a good piece for the Honolulu Advertiser. But check out the comments and you'll see a lot of misdirected anger. If you think Molokai Ranch was going to stop with 200 McMansions, I have some land in Volcano Park I'd like to sell you.
Companies like Molokai Ranch will come and go. But the land is forever. And once it's developed, there is no going back. There is only more building and developing.
No comments:
Post a Comment