• Thanks for the clarification • More water safety education needed • There just aren’t any • Inherent rights Thanks for the clarification Your clarification in the June 22 edition of The Garden Island regarding KIUC’s use of the FERC
• Thanks for the clarification • More
water safety education needed • There just aren’t
any • Inherent rights
Thanks for the clarification
Your clarification in the June 22 edition of The Garden Island regarding KIUC’s use of the FERC process for future hydroelectric projects on Kauai was greatly appreciated. I wish your explanation of a FERC “preliminary permit” versus a “license” was stressed more in past KIUC communications. I checked it out and there is a big difference. Now I understand why the directors went about it the way they did.
Any company can apply for a preliminary permit. Who ever applies for it first, gets a three year period exclusively for studies and due diligence (absolutely no development). At the conclusion of the three year period, we get to decide whether or not to obtain the “license” that most of us were really concerned about. Obtaining the preliminary permit also forces KIUC to provide stakeholders an opportunity to voice their opinions for a period of three years prior to any license or development.
The controversy surrounding the ballot issue and promotion of a “Yes” vote is going to take longer to get past though. This could have been so much easier. I would vote “Yes” now, but my “No” ballot went out last week.
Vince Cosner, Lihu‘e
More water safety education needed
Kaua‘i has one of the highest drowning rates per capita in the United States. Many of these drownings on Kaua‘i occur fronting the Marriott Waiohai Beach Club in Po‘ipu. This occurrence is relative to the population that uses this area for recreation.
I encourage the Marriott Waiohai Beach Club to provide suitable safety precautions to enhance safety for their guests and for the residents that use this area.
This beachfront area is well publicized and promoted to entice their owners who purchase time share packages with the beach front as one of the more intriguing advantages. Surfing is promoted, as is snorkeling and swimming, along with other ocean activities besides the sunny weather and white sand beach that are unique to this area.
This area is very special in many ways but it also conceals many hazards and life threatening dangers that must be addressed for the public’s safety.
My understanding is that there are no resorts, hotels, and or beach clubs along Kaua‘i’s coastline that provide any type of personnel such as a lifeguard or beach attendant for their guests and residents. I don’t think that Ocean Safety Brochures that are placed in the rooms or at the front desk at these hotels, resorts or beach clubs are sufficient enough to provide the safety needed for their guests. This has to change to protect the lives of their guests from meeting a tragic end here in Kaua‘i’s waters.
I understand the concerns of these hotels, resorts and beach clubs teeter on “liability” issues which, in most cases, lean on the side of making profits first rather than being responsible for their guests’ safety. This is a sad and sickening situation that needs to be seriously addressed by the county and state government.
It should be made mandatory for all hotels, resorts and beach clubs that are located adjacent to the ocean to provide lifeguard services and or at the least a beach attendant who can educate their guests regarding safety issues and concerns.
Too many lives have been lost that could have been saved by direct communication to those entering the ocean without the proper gear, or when the conditions were just not safe for the inexperienced. So to who or whom that can make a difference, just think if this was one of your family members that lost their life in the ocean knowing that there was something you could have done to prevent this loss.
Myles Emura, Kekaha
There just aren’t any
Dear Ms. Morel, please believe me when I say it is not my intention to enter into a back and forth argument with you in the LTE section of The Garden Island.
However, in your recent letter to the editor (“Flying high,” June 22) you seem to criticize the paper for not publishing enough letters in support of Green Harvest, only an overabundance of letters against it.
Have you ever stopped to consider that maybe there aren’t any letters in support of this wasteful program?
Nowadays most educated people, whether they are pro-marijuana or not, realize that the government has tried to instill this fear of marijuana into our brains since we were children.
Fact is that marijuana is non-addictive, has never been linked to causing cancer of any kind, no one has ever overdosed on marijuana, and in fact it is medically impossible to OD on marijuana. It has never been proved to cause the loss of brain cells. In fact, emerging research has even shown that it is beneficial in the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease in elderly patients.
Consider that marijuana is now endorsed by the American College of Physicians as one of the safest, most medically effective plants known to man.
These are all facts that you can look up for yourself. So please don’t criticize the paper for not printing enough pro-Green Harvest letters. It’s my opinion that there simply aren’t any.
Andrew Gorsline, Kapa‘a
Inherent rights
The people of Kaua‘i have a Creator-given natural right to decide all matters that affect their environment.
This right includes questions involving Kaua‘i’s natural resources, such as water, over which the federal government claims control.
When the people wake up to these inherent natural rights, they will superpose such authority over all invasive U.S. policies, and any discussion of hydropower should include this most fundamental issue.
Triaka-Don Smith, Lihu‘e
