New Book on Superferry Fiasco

The Superferry Chronicles

ANATOMY OF A BOONDOGGLE

By Koohan Paik and Jerry Mander

In 2001, an entrepreneur got the idea to start a high-speed, inter-island ferry that would connect Honolulu with the neighbor islands. In a short time, the idea was hijacked by a corporation with vast military ties, and the Hawai‘i Superferry became a prototype for America’s sea-based military strategy for the new century.

Never approved by the people of Hawai‘i, the project rode in on a wave of deception and corruption — from the governor’s office to the Hawaii Superferry Corporation. On Maui, environmental groups blocked passage in the courts, only to be overridden by a special session of the legislature. On Kauai, citizens took to surfboards and effectively blocked the vessel from entering the harbor.

The Superferry Chronicles tells the full inside story of corporate and governmental collusion and, at the same time, of personal and political empowerment to protect Hawaii’s waters, lands, and people.

Koohan Paik is a Kauai filmmaker, writer, and media-literacy educator.

In the 1970s, Jerry Mander founded the Public Media Center to help the Sierra Club, Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth, and other nonprofit organizations create very successful media campaigns. In 1998, he founded the International Forum on Globalization. Author of the bestselling Four Arguments for the Elimination of Television and In the Absence of the Sacred, San Francisco-based Mander has been called “the patriarch of the anti-globalization movement” by the New York Times and “the Ralph Nader of advertising” by the Wall Street Journal.

See www.KoaBooks.com for a link to buy the book.

Insightful Business Article re Kaua'i

This article discusses the forces and perceptions that played a role in the rebellion against the Superferry on Kaua'i. These same points apply to Maui.

Hawai'i Business News

DOT Decides Not To Build Pier 5

DOT agreed not build Pier 5 at Kahului Harbor given NCL's removal of 2 out of 3 of their cruise ships and the uncertain economic future of the Superferry which is still operating at a loss.

However, they plan on keeping the Pier 5 option in their 2030 plan. This means that once the 2030 EIS is approved, they can resurrect the idea and proceed on construction without any additional environmental review.

We still need to pressure them to remove it from the EIS entirely and begin looking at an eastward expansion - that is: expand outward instead of inward.

With the postponement of Pier 5, our freight is still in very bad shape with passenger ships interfering with operations and the passenger-freight mix creating a huge safety issue.

And were you aware that DOT built the cruise ship passengers a beautiful restroom that the Matson employees are not allowed to use? Matson and other employees at the dock are restricted to inadequate facilities while tourists get pampered. Is this right?