•New idea of ownership needed now •Solemn parade marks end of sugar era New idea of ownership needed now The Garden Island had a front-page article titled “Public access or private property?” on Oct. 28. It was reported that at
•New idea of ownership needed now
•Solemn parade marks end of sugar era
New idea of ownership needed now
The Garden Island had a front-page article titled “Public access or private property?” on Oct. 28.
It was reported that at a press conference at Grove Farms Homestead Museum in Lihu‘e Don Wilson (lawyer for Grove Farms) and Bruce Laymon (owner of Paradise Ranch and lessee to some 600 acres behind Kaakaanui oceanfront) argued that public access “cutting through the path of least resistance” is nothing less than “trespassing.”
This press event was a reaction to public outrage expressed over the attempt to alter and reduce access to Kaakaanui Beach, known commonly as Larsen’s Beach.
Kaakaanui Beach was renamed after L. David Larsen, the manager of the Kilauea Sugar Plantation. This says so much about the dominant western culture that invented private property boundaries and titles.
In the old days large ag land owners didn’t lock gates to the mountains, valleys and beaches. They just operated around the traditional ways of getting from place-to-place on the island. As sugarcane and pineapple plantations failed, a new attitude replaced the old.
Corporations contend that because it says so on a piece of paper:
“We own this land and we can do anything we want to it. Keep you out. Steal the water. Burn it down. Pave it over. It’s ours and it’s none of your business.”
Well, a newer attitude is replacing the corporate mantra of “Debt! Interest! Growth! Profit!” That dog won’t hunt anymore. In fact, it’s not only the corporations that are losing a place in the survivable future. Most topdown organizations, like federal, state and county governments are on their way to the economic dust bin. If you don’t believe me, look at their unpayable debt obligations.
Well, if that is how it is, maybe it’s time to redefine what private property means and what the rights and responsibilities are for those who own large tracts of land (over 100 acres):
Besides biodiversity, ecological health, soil condition, sustainability, carbon-footprint and run-off, ownership should include responsibility for:
• Reasonable access to traditionally sacred places on private property.
• Convenient easements across (or adjacent) to property for access to public land makai and mauka.
• Legal recognition of historic Hawaiian easements to fishing and hunting sites lost due to county and state negligence.
Big property owners should consider themselves lucky to be in business at all.
Juan Wilson, Hanapepe
Solemn parade marks end of sugar era
Friday morning I surfed Pakalas out of desperation on my return home from the Westside surf check. I had hoped to miss the “traffic” because of the “parade,” so I got out of the water early.
While toweling off on the side of the road, it appeared from around the bend: The last load of cane destined for the mill. The massive haul truck lumbered past me followed by a convoy of assorted plantation vehicles loaded with soiled workers fresh from the final early morning harvest.
One hand on the horn and the other giving the “shaka” as the parade filed past. We exchanged horn blasts, shouts, smiles and of course “shakas.” After the brief moment of noise and joy the convoy passed and a tear came to my eye.
One hundred and twenty years of emerald green waves of cane out of the red earth of sunny West Kaua‘i. All the different cultures involved in the labor of growing, harvesting and milling the sweet crystal we take for granted.
The Hawaiian, Chinese, Japanese, Portuguese, Filipino, Europeans and the numerous mixtures, all giving the Westside its special character. The families all profiting from their labor and their children who have spread to all corners of the earth.
I crawled through traffic into Hanapepe, where I met the convoy once more as it crossed the Hanapepe River heading now west for the mill. In Hanapepe where the labor movement has deep and bloody roots, the parade seemed much more solemn with only the occasional blast from the larger trucks. I passed the parade heading east and came upon the snarl of cars slowed by its westward movement.
The change of the economic guard: tourists in their rental vehicles off to experience the sights of the Garden Isle.
Teddy Rentrop, Hanapepe
