Letters for June 29, 2016 Keep plight of homeless in mind First I would like to thank The Garden Island for printing my letter on June 16, “Have sympathy for the poor.” My articles with your help are being read
Letters for June 29, 2016
Keep plight of homeless in mind
First I would like to thank The Garden Island for printing my letter on June 16, “Have sympathy for the poor.” My articles with your help are being read by many of my homeless ohana, the community, organizations and churches with positive feedback and the occasional ignorant negative feedback.
Again, we had negative and threatening comments after last Sunday’s service and morning coffee, juice and pastries. I was pouring my juice into a water container to drink at my leisure and/or later and I was threatened to be banned if I take food out of the hall, then ridiculed by someone who once was in our situation. Oh well. Still bless them.
More from my Street Ohana Corner to come.
Bless and love you all.
Mark Segreti
Kapaa
Wealthy don’t seem to care about locals
I was saddened to read about the wall Mark Zuckerberg is having built along Koolau Road, which is blocking both the view and ocean breeze. It seems that the first thing people of great wealth do is deny the so-called “little people” any type of access to these natural assets.
During our winters on Kauai, we see this in the gated homes built between the road and ocean in Poipu and between the road and ocean at Anini Beach. I have always believed that the government of Kauai should never have allowed this type of “narrow strip” development, both to maintain the ocean view and access for its residents and to lessen the impact of hurricanes and wave erosion on those private properties.
Now we see Mark Zuckerberg’s project. It appears the rich can buy anything — the clean ocean near Mahaulepu for a billionaire’s dairy; the land above the Hanalei River for multi-millionaire housing — and everyone else can just pound poi.
Suzan Kelsey Brooks
West Des Moines, Iowa
Too many feral cats a health threat
In response to your article “Significant threat: Feral Cats blamed for killing six endangered Hawaiian Petrels.” As a GIS practitioner, conservationist and community steward living on Kauai, I have had the opportunity of helping to steward the mapping of feral cat colonies here on our island. It’s quite clear there are too many felines and they unfortunately need to be reduced in order to protect our endangered species.
Cat populations on Kauai, however, also threaten our public health due to the parasites and diseases residing in their feces that ultimately wash into our streams and oceans where our keiki swim and play. Humans have severely altered the ecosystem balance here in Hawaii and it is now our kuleana to take ownership over the fact that we have allowed the cat populations to get out of control.
It is not enough to collect, relocate and concentrate cats into colonies, their numbers need to be severely reduced islandwide for the sake of wildlife and our public health.
HP King
Lihue
