The Honolulu Advertiser reveals that the State Auditor has confirmed that Superferry execs lied when they claimed the Federal government was driving their demand for an exemption from Hawai'i environmental law.
"In the end, the state may have compromised its environmental policy in favor of a private company's internal deadline," state auditor Marion Higa concluded. "It remains to be seen whether these decisions will cost the state more than its environmental policy."
I ask one simple question: Why was no "Special Session" of the Hawai`i Legislature, or an "Emergency Session" of the Legislature called to keep afloat Aloha Airlines, a 61-year-old loyal transportation company with thousands of longstanding employees affected; whereby we all know a Special Session was called for a "large capacity ferry vessel company" not even yet in business, with mostly part-time employees with little if any benefits and a company evading at every opportunity its kuleana to the environment and generations to come?
Could it be that our present governor cares more about helping the neo-con investors of Superferry, and their positioning for private military contracts, and the use of the ferry for future strategic military use, than caring about the thousands of Aloha workers, their families and all the related business loss.
Where is the Special Session for Aloha, Lingle?
All the while feigning your sympathy for the workers. So much hypocrisy and lies surround you and the Superferry dealings. Impeachment is an honorable path here, though not on the table in this corrupt political system, mirroring the U.S. Congress and Bush/Cheney (And I used to be an avid Republican).
And Mayor Bryan Baptiste, honestly, I and so many people wished you would have stood up to Lingle on Superferry, as did the Maui mayor forbidding county employee use of the ferry. I didn't understand your in-absentia style on this huge impact of an issue to us. May God bless all of us on this issue and our individual learnings.
John (Tyler) Cragg
Anahola __._,_.___
Scott Mijares and Keone Kealoha will be hosting the KKCR (91.9fm, 90.9, 92.7) public
affairs program "Kauai Soapbox" on Tuesday April 15 at 4-530pm and will review the information
from Austal USA workers and pursue some of the questions raised.
If you are off-island, pick it up online at kkcr.org.
If you missed last Thursday's interview with current and former Austal USA employees download
it at :
http://66.225.215.32/~ecoround/hui-r/AustalRadioShow.mp3
