As is increasingly common in Honolulu, a group of organized NIMBYs rally their supporters, provide a forum for misinformation, pit neighborhoods against each other and oppose needed public-works projects on our island (“Ala Wai pedestrian bridge proves unpopular at community meeting,” Star-Advertiser, Sept. 10).
For our pedestrian bridge at the Ala Wai Canal, opponents organized limited-invitee 11th-hour political rallies, allowed misinformation on agencies’ and proponents’ intentions, and made a mockery of the city’s exhaustive public outreach over the past five years.
However, a new nadir is reached when the traumatic tragedy on Maui is now weaponized and politicized to imply the bridge project can be scrapped and the money sent to Maui (“Give Ala Wai bridge money to Maui,” Star-Advertiser, Island Voices, Sept. 17).
If we do not take this U.S. Department of Transportation funding, it’s sent to another city on the mainland for its bridge projects, not to Maui relief. Opponents of the bridge know this but continue to spread this and other misinformation in their cynical attempt to sabotage the bridge project entirely.
Jeffrey Merz
Waikiki
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