Kaua‘i’s war on drugs got millions of dollars in federal ammunition recently. Some $4.5 million in federal funds included in a bill recently signed into law by President George W. Bush will be used to combat use of crystal methamphetamine,
Kaua‘i’s war on drugs got millions of dollars in federal ammunition recently.
Some $4.5 million in federal funds included in a bill recently signed into law by President George W. Bush will be used to combat use of crystal methamphetamine, or ice, in Hawai‘i.
The $4.5 million is earmarked for the Hawaii County Comprehensive Methamphetamine Response program, to expand it to Kaua‘i, and, to the extent possible, to Moloka‘i and Lana‘i, according to U.S. Sen. Daniel K. Inouye, D-Hawai‘i.
Kaua‘i Mayor Bryan J. Baptiste has worked with Inouye since Baptiste was elected 15 months ago to get Kaua‘i funding for the anti-drug initiative.
A portion of Baptiste’s war on drugs also benefits from an $800,000 appropriation to the county Transportation Agency in the Offices of Community Assistance.
Of the $800,000 going to the Kaua‘i Bus program to replace buses and make bus stops more accessible to those in wheelchairs, some will also go to help start an after-school transportation program for students.
Baptiste said earlier his drug-prevention strategy includes establishment of a public-transportation system specifically geared toward getting children to and from sports practices and games and other cultural activities where those children now lack transportation and hence don’t participate.
The money was included in a huge federal spending bill that also has funding to establish the Office of Native Hawaiian Relations in the U.S. Department of the Interior.
Establishment of the office “advances the cause of self-determination for Native Hawaiians, and is an important component of the Akaka Bill that the Hawai‘i delegation supports,” Inouye said.
“I remain committed to working with Senator (Daniel) Akaka and other members of the Hawai‘i delegation in passing the full measure this year,” said Inouye.
Other Kaua‘i initiatives funded by the bill include the following:
- Establishment of a West Kaua‘i high-technology training center, to be established in Waimea to support education and training of young people so that they will have valuable skills for the 21st-century workplace, $500,000;
- Replacement of “gang cesspools,” or those shared by multiple users, on Kaua‘i and in rural O‘ahu, $1 million. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency leaders have mandated that all gang cesspools be closed and replaced with individual wastewater treatment facilities by April of next year;
- Replacement of the wooden, aging Kapahi bridge, $350,000;
- Establishment of a Kauai Community Health Center Kapa‘a location, $50,000;
- Bank stabilization and engineering for improvements to Ohiki Road, off Kuhio Highway just south of Hanalei Bridge in Hanalei National Wildlife Refuge, $50,000.
