Letters for March 10, 2015

• Princeville needs siren • Many theories on dairy farm

Princeville needs siren

The monthly, first Monday of the week, emergency siren test again reminded me that Princeville does not have any warning sirens. We must depend on the sirens located at Anini Beach or Hanalei. North Shore sirens are located at the following locations: two in Haena, one in Wainiha, two in Hanalei, two in Anini, one in Kalihiwai Bay and two in Kilauea.

Under ideal conditions, people in Princeville can hear a siren from somewhere but in very stormy and noisy conditions this may not be possible.

Princeville is not an obvious target for tsunamis but then neither is Kilauea. Princeville does have to accommodate evacuees from the lower elevations on the North Shore in the case of tsunamis or other flooding events. This is probably not a major issue for the local people as most of us are signed up for the telephone and email alerts and this works well. However, our large visitor population does not have access to this service. A major concern is alerting visitors of severe weather, tsunamis, hurricanes or other potential disasters. In my view, it is highly likely that the visitors may not be aware of these events; however, if they did hear a warning siren, they would hopefully turn on the radio or TV.

Princeville has a very active Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) but it seems illogical that we have no warning sirens. I would like to urge the appropriate government organization to install a siren in Princeville as soon as possible. As we all know hurricane season is just around the corner.

John Gordon

Princeville

Many theories on dairy farm

New news concerning the dairy industry causes us to reflect on the real purpose of the proposed dairy in Mahaulepu. It has been suggested that the large amount of milk produced by the dairy will be processed in Hawaii and sent to China. The problem is that farmers in China are now dumping milk down the drain and selling their cows for beef consumption due to the oversupply of milk (WSJ Feb. 20).

Global milk production is 8.6 percent higher this year than in 2011 and bench mark prices have hit a six-year low, down 55 percent from a year earlier. New Zealand dairy farms (the same farms that serve as a model for Hawaii Dairy Farms), which account for 80 percent of the milk China buys from abroad, have lost tremendous income as milk prices in China have declined 50 percent compared to a year ago.

So why are the investor(s) in the dairy intent on pushing their plan, which doesn’t appear to be a financial winner and is opposed by a majority of Kauai citizens and visitors? Dumb the moneyed people are not.

Environmentally challenged, socially unaware and greedy they may be, but there is a clear motive to their persistence. Could it be that they want the dairy to fail? In several years, they could walk away from the ponds, the pipes and the poop and declare bankruptcy, leaving the cleanup to us.

This allows a huge tax break for the individual(s) involved and yet another problem for the people of Kauai.

Those who are swayed by conspiracy theories have proposed an alternative hypothesis. They suggest that the dairy will close in several years but will be converted to a residential subdivision, with infrastructure (pools, water, roads, etc.) in place thanks to the generous tax benefits afforded to agricultural development.

Whatever the reason for the principle(s) to build the dairy, realize that the surfeit of milk in the world now makes a 3- to 4-year-old business plan completely out of date and suggests that intentional failure and associated tax benefits may be an objective, leaving Kauai citizens holding the bag — full of poop.

Doug Wilmore

Kilauea