• New resident wants to help reefs • Paradise tax? Please New resident wants to help reefs I’ve been visiting Kauai for a decade and recently made Kauai my permanent home. Over the years I’ve watched the reefs die before my
• New resident wants to help reefs • Paradise tax? Please
New resident wants to help reefs
I’ve been visiting Kauai for a decade and recently made Kauai my permanent home. Over the years I’ve watched the reefs die before my eyes. My question is, why? I’malso interested in what Kauai is doing to prevent more reef loss. Is there a plan to restore the reefs? I am interested in helping to preserve and restore the reefs. The reefsare crucial for Kauai.
Heidi Wolfgang, Kalaheo
Paradise tax? Please
I have lived in Hawaii for over 36 years now and as such have grown accustomed to paying higher prices on most everything I purchase. Like most Hawaii residents, I have been told and accepted that because of the additional shipping costs everything is going to cost more. We’ve all heard the line that’s “the price of living in paradise.”
Like most of us living in Hawaii, I have just blindly accepted this excuse for our higher prices. Now, I’m not so sure.
I just returned from a vacation in Virginia. In Alexandria, I purchased bananas for 49 cents a pound. In Williamsburg they were 57 cents a pound. These were not sale prices, but their everyday price. Now, they aren’t growing any bananas in Virginia. They have to be shipped in. So, why are we paying $1.29 a pound on Kauai? It may cost more to ship to Kauai than to Hawaii, but surely not that much more.
I am from Alaska. My sister lives in Wasilla. When I told her we pay $1.29 a pound for bananas, she just laughed and told me she pays 89 cents a pound. 89 cents a pound in Alaska! They certainly aren’t growing any bananas in Alaska. And I would bet that it cost more to ship to Alaska than to Hawaii.
I believe that we do have to pay more on Kauai for items that are shipped in. I also believe that the amount “more” we are paying is inflated. I believe that we are so used to paying higher prices on Kauai that the big businesses that bring in and distribute the products purposely keep the prices inflated because the know the people living here will just accept it as part of the “price of living in paradise.” We’ve paid through the nose for so long we just won’t question it.
Well, I am questioning it. There needs to be an investigation on the prices we are paying and whether or not the cost of shipping truly justifies the prices we are paying.
Loyd Clayton, Hanapepe
