• In need of overall water plan • Of smelly feet and runny noses • Returns on investment In need of overall water plan As we all know, 18 months ago the Ka Loko Reservoir Dam failed causing a disastrous
• In need of overall water plan
• Of smelly feet and runny noses
• Returns on investment
In need of overall water plan
As we all know, 18 months ago the Ka Loko Reservoir Dam failed causing a disastrous flood and seven fatalities.
The Ka Loko Reservoir is still there complete with water lines, functioning as a needed and necessary agricultural irrigation system. Neither the owner of the land nor the owner of the irrigation system (two separate entities) have been found to be liable for the disastrous flood.
The state has been noted to have been responsible for safety inspections of the dam, and to have been negligent. Legistration passed immediately after the dam break shifted the liability from the state to private owners.
The state BLNR now has said that the surface water source to the reservoir must be shut off. The reasoning for this decision was not made public.
The reservoir and irrigation system was constructed years ago for ag uses such as sugar and pineapple which are no longer raised. The current ag use of that original system has been adapted for smaller farmers raising ginger, lettuce and other crops necessary to the community. The current farmers will be “wiped out” if the reservoir and irrigation system is destroyed by shutting off the water source, as county water from wells is too costly and there is no other available source.
When surface water sources of irrigation such as Ka Loko are functioning, the excess water goes into the ground water aquifer. When such surface water is no longer provided through irrigation, the water table falls as has happened in the Lihu‘e area and on other islands.
If the currently functional reservoir and irrigation system is still operational and was not put out of use by the dam failure disaster, why is it now to be destroyed by state order?
Can’t the state inspect and note corrections as needed rather than completely eliminating this functioning and needed asset? Was the disastrous flood caused by fill being placed over the spillway as reported? If so, then is that fill now gone and the dam once again has a functioning safety spillway?
The state should recognize that it needs to have an overall water plan that will coordinate all aspects of our water resources. The state should not confuse us by assigning different aspects of water use to different state agencies, or dodge responsibility by shifting it to private entities.
It is our water, a public resource, both above ground and below, as much as the air or the ocean around us. Our representative government should protect it and manage it responsibly. Water is not private property and should not be treated as such. One must pay for the development of water handling and its movement or transportation in a safe manner, but the water is not created or manufactured by individuals. As an important major resource, water is owned by all of us.
When reflecting on these happenings one can only conclude that the state Legislature and state bureaucratic bodies are primarily concerned only with limiting their liability. Our state representatives apparently see little or no need for the protection of the public from hydrological disasters and have no concern nor desire to establish, protect or preserve a policy of wise management of our public water resources.
Robert Ferris
Kilauea
Of smelly feet and runny noses
Taking off one’s shoes is a custom in many Hawaiian homes.
Everyone seems to have it wrong, they go through the physical motions of taking off their shoes but lack the inside slippers as is the custom in Japan.
I was recently at a friends home and everyone was upset since I did not take off my shoes. The carpet was filthy, they had five dogs inside that play outdoors all day and expect me to bare my feet in all that filth and bacteria.
The custom in Japan is to take off your shoes and don a clean pair of slippers either supplied by the host or you bring your own. When going to the bathroom you take off your house slippers and don your bathroom slippers, since you do not want to spread bathroom bacteria to the rest of the house.
I do not understand the Hawaiian custom of taking off one’s shoes in many homes when you are walking in many instances in a dirty environment with other barefooted people who may have bacteria infections such as the contagious athletes’ feet.
The shoes-off custom is suppose to be hygienic, and it is not hygienic to have bare sweaty dirty feet walking on floors. Hawai‘i needs to take a lesson from our Japanese friends before leaving their footwear unattended.
The old expression of your feet run and your nose smells should be reversed for Hawai‘i, where your nose runs and your feet smell.
James “Kimo” Rosen
Kapa‘a
Returns on investment
Why are energy prices high? Well, actually they are not so high as you might think. If oil were priced in 1980 dollars, the price per barrel accounting for inflation would be $200 instead of the current $80. But those were turbulent times because of OPEC’s manipulations. Still, energy prices are rising and cutting into the ability of consumers to spend on other goods, which has a deleterious effect on our economy.
Who is deriving the most benefit from rising prices? After income taxes, federal waters leased to oil companies constitute the second highest source of revenue for the entire federal government. In addition, oil companies pay corporate taxes to the federal government in the billions of dollars. XTO Energy, for example, pays in a cool billion dollars a year. Moreover, the Federal government receives over fifty-cents per gallon in taxes on a gallon of gasoline at the pump.
The talk in Congress about a “Windfall Profits Tax” is patently absurd for a number of reasons. Historically, the oil companies have a return on investment very much in line with other businesses. For long periods of time, the ROI may be the same as for other businesses on average or smaller on average or greater on average. Presently, the ROI for oil companies is higher on average and, predictably, politicians and uniformed citizens get all worked up and begin demonizing the oil industry.
Happens every time.
Nothing is ever said when the oil companies are earning less than the average over a period of 10 or 20 years as has occurred during the lifetime of nearly all members of Congress. Furthermore, Exxon, for example, the favorite target of demonizers, earns 70-percent of its income from foreign sources. Is that not a good thing, that an American company has developed its expertise over many decades so that it can compete globally so successfully against all other companies? While the federal government rakes in taxes hand over fist from leases and corporate taxes and then over 50 cents at the pump for doing nothing more than counting the money and perhaps sending bureaucrats around the country in first-class seats. Exxon earns a nickel a gallon while it does all the work of any capitalist that expertly puts money at risk in the hope of a return. You have to consider, too, that Exxon stock sits in the portfolios of millions of stockholders and thousands of pension funds. Any additional taxes taken from Exxon on the pretext of “windfall profits” causes all of these retirement funds to receive lower returns.
Where does the money go that government collects? If the money had been left with the oil companies, most of it would have been spent on research and development and some to the bottom line. When profits become excessive in a capitalist milieu, that draws in competitors and profits go down and more product is supplied. When the money goes to government much of it gets wasted in the execution of its duties (how do you like the condition of our highway infrastructure?), more of it gets misdirected, and the remainder seems to disappear according the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO). Also, when one kind of business is targeted for excessive taxes, less of the commodity produced by those businesses appears on the market and you get shortages, higher prices, and fewer alternatives. Government does not innovate, but can and does reduce innovation. And you can look at the corn for ethanol fiasco for one glaring example of government directives.
Isn’t it time to do something else?
If you are sick to death of government waste, bureaucratic bungling, political corruption, power mongering, and attack on civil liberties and on our Constitution, please consider Ron Paul for President. His campaign is taking hold all across America and needs your help for the purpose of restoring sanity to our affairs everywhere in the world.
Michael Meek
Princeville
