Every Sunday, “Back in the Day” looks at an article that ran on this date in the Honolulu Star-Bulletin. The items are verbatim, so don’t blame us today for yesteryear’s bad grammar.
The Office of Hawaiian Affairs today sued the state to claim one-fifth of the millions of dollars the state earns each year at Honolulu Airport, Sand Island, Aloha Tower and all other Transportation Department lands.
The OHA suit seeks 20 percent of the money the state gets from such sources as harbor operations, airport fees and concessions — including the $35 million-a-year Duty Free Shoppers concession. A Sand Island light industrial district leased to private businesses by the Department of Land and Natural Resources also is included in the suit.
OHA claims a share of money generated on land administered by the Transportation Department because Sand Island and most land under-
lying state airports and harbors were former Hawaiian government or crown lands that now are part of a land trust set up by the Hawaii Admission Act.
Nearly 80 percent of the land at Honolulu Airport is considered part of the land trust. Most airport revenue, however, comes from concessions in the main terminal building, which is not on ceded land. Despite that, OHA contends that it should have a share of the total airport revenues.
It also is seeking a share of income the state gets from the Matson Navigation Co. container yard on Sand Island and other leases to private companies.
OHA Vice Chairman Rodney Burgess said the trustees have tried to resolve the entitlement issue with state officials who have been adamant in their refusal to pay the 20 percent.
The suit has been filed with great reluctance and only after 21⁄2 years of futile attempts to negotiate a fair and reasonable settlement with the state administration, Burgess said.
He said that if OHA, which was created to manage trust assets and programs for the betterment of Hawaiians, did not sue the state for the entitlements, it would be sued in turn by Hawaiian trust beneficiaries for failing to carry out its fiduciary duty. …
The lawsuit was filed this morning by Hono-lulu attorneys Boyce Brown Jr. and David C. Schutter.
