It’s time we stop the abuse that’s been going on for decades in our beautiful Hawaiian Islands.
A few locations would be Kahoolawe, Waikane Valley and Makua Valley, which were leased to the military for training.
Right now, those lands are riddled with live explosives, making them dangerous and unusable.
There also are tons of explosives dumped in the ocean that sometimes wash up on our shores — an extreme danger to our land and people.
What I’m trying to say is: Keep Mauna Kea Mauna Kea.
The Thirty Meter Telescope developers have the whole world from which to pick a mountain for their telescope. We have one Mauna Kea. In a few more years, they’ll want to build a bigger telescope. Our children can still get a good education in astronomy, even if it means going away, like a lot of our kids do. Let’s not trade Mauna Kea for development we don’t really need.
Donald L. Kilohana Johnson
Pearl City
Rail beneficiaries should pay more
Now that the Federal Transit Administration has rebuffed the city’s requests on the rail, and chances are not good that the state will extend the 0.5 percent general excise tax surcharge, the city should consider who benefits most from the rail and look to them to make a bigger contribution.
Those within walking distance of rail stations will enjoy the convenience of mass transit, likely saving on auto, gas and parking fees. And transit-oriented development property owners and developers will benefit from the rail through higher rents, more commercial business and higher property values.
Increasing property taxes in these areas seems fair.
The city should not increase gas taxes, auto registration or municipal parking fees. Those who drive because rail is not accessible to them should not be punished further.
And, although they’re easy targets, tourists should not have to pay any more than they already do for a rail they’ll likely not use.
Gregory Hama
St. Louis Heights
Rail is construction, not transit project
The Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation made a serious mistake in not hiring what Michael Formby calls “a construction-experienced CEO who has successfully worked through similar engineering, budget and schedule challenges on other rail projects” (“Finishing the job,” Star-Advertiser, Island Voices, Aug. 28).
It is serious because a CEO with construction experience would have years ago predicted the situation HART is in now and would have taken steps to avoid this situation.
HART’s board of directors were naive in not realizing that what is being built is a construction project, not a transportation project.
Ruben Reyes
Waipahu
Elevated rail doing poorly elsewhere
There has been concern expressed about projected rail ridership on these pages recently. The relevant available data from the only two elevated rail lines built in modern times shows us that skepticism is justified.
Miami’s elevated rail achieved only 15 percent of its projected ridership, and Puerto Rico’s elevated rail did little better; achieving only 24 percent of what was projected, according to the Federal Transit Administration.
Meanwhile, the City and County of Honolulu cannot even forecast ridership of TheBus correctly. In the various environmental impact statements, city transit official forecast 25 percent increases while actual results show a slight decrease.
We currently have fewer riders than we had in 1984, despite the increase in population.
Cliff Slater
Pacific Heights
GM really to blame for car airbag fiasco
The New York Times reported that General Motors is the ultimate conspirator in the Takata airbag fiasco (“Focus on cost fed use of killer air bags,” Star-Advertiser, Aug. 27).
GM knew or should have known from the very beginning that Takata airbags were defective and very dangerous. GM tried to force Autoliv, its airbag supplier at the time, to deliver an even cheaper version of the Takata airbag.
To its credit, Autoliv refused, citing its own scientific evaluations. GM irresponsibly went with the Takata airbags, because it could save a few dollars each.
Unfortunately, GM has deep pockets and with access to the right politicians, it’s no wonder it has never been mentioned in this case. If GM had not intentionally installed defective airbags, these deaths and injuries would never have occurred. GM should be paying these billions, not Takata.
James Robinson
Aiea
Voting third party better than no vote
This presidential election has left us with such unacceptable candidates from both of our major parties that most people I have spoken with have said they are thinking of not voting at all, rather than being forced to choose the lesser of two evils.
I have yet to see any interviews or media coverage on the alternative candidates, primarily Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson.
I, for one, would like to know something about him, his opinions, and his stances.
After all, he also is on the ballot, isn’t he?
For those of us voters who don’t want to choose between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, an acceptable alternative would be welcome.
A vote for someone not of either major party would send a message better than not voting at all.
Ken Mendes
Kaneohe
