Honolulu Councilwoman Kym Pine presses for audit of harbor inspections to ferret out illegal fireworks
Honolulu Councilwoman Kym Pine is singling out port security as a major factor in illegal fireworks entering the state and rocking neighborhoods across the islands.
“While a few people are setting off homemade ‘bombs,’ most of the illegal fireworks that shatter our peace and quiet are coming into our state through our ports,” Pine said today in a news release.
In February, the City Council adopted Pine’s Resolution 20-16 urging the state Legislature to request an audit of harbor inspection procedures.
The resolution says the City Council believes that the relatively infrequent inspection of shipping containers and the continued importation of illegal goods and materials is a serious problem.
“Other outlawed items such as illegal drugs, invasive species and toxic substances that hurt our environment put us at high risk, but the solution lies in simply enforcing existing laws and with proper inspections,” Pine said.
RELATED: Windy weather could send aerial fireworks awry on Oahu
Don't miss out on what's happening!
Stay in touch with top news, as it happens, conveniently in your email inbox. It's FREE!
The state has 10 commercial harbors under the Department of Transportation’s Harbors Division, Pine noted in the resolution.
DOT spokesman Tim Sakahara said that the Harbors Division maintains the harbors, but doesn’t have the authority to inspect cargo shipments.
State harbors, like airports, fall under the DOT, Sakahara says, but “we’re not the TSA … we don’t have the authority to inspect the cargo.”
U.S. Customs and Border Protection is the law enforcement agency that inspects foreign containers, while domestic shipments are inspected by the Department of Homeland Security and also subject to U.S. Department of Agriculture inspections.
