HILO — Hawaii is giving a $10 million grant to the Big Island to help jump-start recovery efforts following the Kilauea volcano eruption.
HILO — Hawaii is giving a $10 million grant to the Big Island to help jump-start recovery efforts following the Kilauea volcano eruption.
The Hawaii Tribune-Herald reports the Hawaii County Council adopted a resolution Tuesday to accept the funding.
County finance director Deanna Sako told council members that the grant would be directed for economic impact and relocation studies as well as housing vouchers.
The Big Island previously received $12 million in state funding for disaster response. Sako says about $4 million is left.
Roy Takemoto, an executive assistant to Big Island Mayor Harry Kim, says the county will still seek about $150 million from the state to fund recovery efforts when the next legislative session begins in January.
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Information from: Hawaii Tribune-Herald, http://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/
Why should those who do not live on the Big Island are supposed to fund the recovery efforts of the recent lava flows, when the County of Hawaii knows full well the hazards of development so near an active volcano? Even insurance companies will not offer coverage in the Leilani Estates, yet the County collected taxes on this development for decades, so where did that money go?
With this knowledge that someday Leilani Estates will be overunned by lava, yet the County instead of saving $millions of collections, squandered it off, now whats non-Big Islander taxpayers to foot the entire bill of recovery. There should be restrictions of pay back 100% to taxpayers who should not be punished for the greed and incompetence of Big Island politicians like Harry Kim and his cohorts who could afford secondary homes in Paradise Lands and exclusive gated community closed off to locals, yet open to him and others like himself.
It is a conflict of interest and he should be paying his share of “paradise” not non-residents who benefitted during good times, now what hand outs.