Save Kauai brings together current information about Kauai and web-based tools that allow you to take action. If we want to affect the future of Kauai in a pono way we must organize and begin implementing solutions, not just fighting the problems.
Aloha 'Aina, Imua Kakou!
"Fish and Limu are allowed on the Superferry"
Responding to the letter of 11/17 in The Garden Island News, "Superferry concerns need perspective" from Peter Antonson where he states, "...hundreds of pounds of fish have not been removed from Maui," and "During the summer, Maui's mayor got hysterical about 400 pounds of fish in a month that never left Maui."
Actually, fish and limu are allowed to be transported on the Superferry. It is the opihi, crustaceans, and rocks that are not allowed on the Superferry. In the case of opihi, unless they are immature, there is no penalty for being caught attempting to smuggle them aboard. Fish and limu are allowed to 'flow freely.'
WHAT:
TWO SUPERFERRY CHRONICLES BOOK LAUNCH PARTIES
Come learn little-known facts about the Hawaii Superferry
WHERE & WHEN:
Wednesday, December 3
6:00 p.m. at the United Church of Christ, Hanapepe
Friday, December 5
6:00 p.m. at Malama Kauai
WHO:
Speakers will include:
Co-authors Koohan "Camera" Paik and Jerry Mander
Biologist Don Heacock
Fisherman Raymond Catania and others!
THE SUPERFERRY CHRONICLES:
Fifteen hundred protestors line Kauai's pier. Dozens more leap onto surfboards, boogie boards, and canoes, risking their lives to stop the oncoming colossus: the high-speed Hawaii Superferry riding in on a wave of deception and collusion. The protesters block the ship, and force it back to Honolulu. But why such outrage?... Over a ferryboat?
The Superferry Chronicles is a riveting tale of intrigue and corruption—and an inspiring popular uprising against rampant commercialization. Impeccably researched, The Chronicles exposes hidden connections to defense industries preparing for Pacific conflicts, and an ambitious governor pandering to powerful military investors.
Her administration gives the mammoth catamaran—bigger than a football field—a free pass to blaze its way at forty miles per hour through protected whale breeding grounds and transport dangerous invasive species to fragile ecosystems—despite stringent environmental laws and a unanimous Supreme Court stop-order! Central
to the story, we hear directly from Hawai'i's citizens fighting to protect their lands, and saying loud and clear, "Enough is enough."
Review of Navy contract award sought Nov. 16, 2008 Portland Press Herald - Maine
"...Keenan said there is concern that the Navy's latest decision 'will create more layoffs and there is fear that cost, quality, craftsmanship...not taken into consideration when contracts are awarded. I, like the 3,000 other shipbuilders, just want peace of mind that it was a fair competition with bids reflecting what it truly costs to build and deliver the final product (Joint High Speed Vessel) to the Navy,' he wrote."
Shipyard Workers Demand Investigation Into Navy Contract Nov. 15, 2008 WMTW ABC TV - Bath, Maine
Friday, November 14, 2008
From: http://www.kauaiworld.com/articles/2008/11/14/opinion/letters_to_the_edi...
"Wake up, Kaua‘i"
"I used to live on O‘ahu. I have seen the natural resources of that island stripped without concern for the future of the life and the ‘aina.
I saw groups of 10 or more people systematically dig out every native orchid and saleable plant into gunny sacks on their backs like a full-time job. This was done inside a park preserve.
Marine resources are basically gone on O‘ahu. It’s no surprise that environmental exploiters have been caught pillaging resources from Maui, to be sold in Honolulu, by way of the Superferry. Dump trucks full of beach stones, fish, limu, etcetera are being strip-mined from Maui. Invasive pests could easily be transported here and we need our farms protected from them.
Many Kauaians rely on catching fish to survive. Do you think crowds of fishermen joining you on the pier will allow you to still get enough to eat? Do you want carloads of surfers crowding out our surf spots along with overcrowded roads with hundreds of cars arriving each day? What about overcrowded parks, more homeless people and the ease of transporting more drugs like ice?
Now the whale season approaches. These poor creatures have already suffered sonar blastings, must they now run the risk of being run down like the Anini turtle that I knew for over 20 years.
Wake up, Kaua‘i. Once it is gone, it is lost forever.
FIFTEEN HUNDRED PROTESTORS LINE KAUA‘I’S PIER.
Dozens more leap onto surfboards, boogie boards, and canoes,
risking their lives to stop the oncoming colossus: the high-speed
Hawaii Superferry riding in on a wave of deception and collusion.
The protesters block the ship, and force it back to Honolulu. But
why such outrage?... Over a ferryboat?
The Superferry Chronicles is a riveting tale of intrigue and corruption—
and an inspiring popular uprising against rampant commercialization.
Impeccably researched, The Chronicles exposes hidden
connections to defense industries preparing for Pacific conflicts, and
an ambitious governor pandering to powerful military investors.
Her administration gives the mammoth catamaran—bigger than a
football field—a free pass to blaze its way at forty miles per hour
through protected whale breeding grounds and transport dangerous
invasive species to fragile ecosystems—despite stringent environmental
laws and a unanimous Supreme Court stop-order! Central
to the story, we hear directly from Hawai‘i’s citizens fighting to
protect their lands, and saying loud and clear, “Enough is enough.”
Award-winning filmmaker Koohan Paik of Kaua‘i and Jerry Mander, “the patriarch of the antiglobalization movement” (New York Times), are joined by military observers, legal experts, and environmental professionals, to tell this compelling David-and-Goliath saga of local heroism versus global powers, exposing universal crises playing out in a Pacific archipelago.
THE BOOK DETAILS THE ONGOING STRUGGLE OF MANY
Friday, November 14, 2008
Just as Austal (parent company maker of the Hawaii Superferry) prepares for a major top-dollar government contract in the U.S. for which it will need 500 more workers, the following article appears on a Filipino news website:
Mass termination of OFWS in Australia brings tears before Christmas ABS CBN News - Philippines
By Gigi Grande, ABS-CBN News 11/13/2008 2:05 PM Seventy five Filipino workers in Western Australia have lost their jobs at Austal...[see below]
For Filipino's abroad, a Pinoy Story in all of this:
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/pinoy-migration/11/13/08/mass-termination-ofw...
"Mass layoff of OFWs in Australia brings tears before X'mas"
By Gigi Grande, ABS-CBN News 11/13/2008
"Seventy-five Filipino workers in Western Australia have lost their jobs at Austal, one of the biggest ship builders in the world.
Thirty Australians and two Croatians also got the chop.
Austal chief executive officer Bob Browning told ABS-CBN the global recession and the credit crunch are to blame. He says it caused “commercial customers to slow down” on the acquisition of new vessels. As a result, employees engaged in the early stages of vessel production, such as fabricators and welders, were left without assignments. “Majority of our Filipino workers are employed in this area,” Browning explained.
Sorry, mate
Thursday, November 13, 2008
"Here is the Contract...for 1 ship with NAVY Option for 9 more"
Oh, that's pricey, $185,433,564, more than twice what HSV's have gone for in past and presumably will go for in the future. Notice the NAVY has the option of 9 more, or NOT.
Here is the 'scoop,' the first accurate media report:
From: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601081&sid=aq1LfQ6bI2Tg&refer=a...
"Austal Wins $185.4 Million Navy Award for High-Speed Vessel" By Gopal Ratnam November 13, 2008 17:53 EST
Nov. 13 (Bloomberg) -- "Austal Ltd., the Perth, Australia- based shipbuilder, won a $185.4 million contract from the U.S. Navy to build a high-speed vessel that will transport troops and supplies, the Defense Department said.
The work will be performed by Austal's U.S. unit in Mobile, Alabama, the Pentagon said today on its Web site. The contract includes options to build as many as nine more ships..."
Here is the actual DoD press release:
From: http://www.defenselink.mil/CONTRACTS/CONTRACT.ASPX?CONTRACTID=3903
U.S. Department of Defense
Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs)
Contract On the Web: http://www.defenselink.mil/contracts/contract.aspx?contractid=3903
FOR RELEASE AT 5 p.m. ET
November 13, 2008
CONTRACTS
NAVY
http://www.theherald.co.uk/news/news/display.var.2467447.0.Blow_as_ferry...
"Blow as ferry link with Scandinavia faces the axe"
by DAVID ROSS November 12 2008
"Scotland is about to lose its only ferry service to Scandinavia and the UK's only ferry connection to the Faroes and Iceland..."
Reminds me of the song from the British group, 'Queen':
"...Another one bites the dust
Another one bites the dust
And another one gone and another one gone
Another one bites the dust hey
Hey gonna get you too
Another one bites the dust
...Bite the dustta
Hey Another one bites the dust
Another one bites the dust ow
Another one bites the dust he he
Another one bites the dust hay yay ya ya ya..."
Aloha, Brad
From: http://www.westhawaiitoday.com/articles/2008/11/10/local/local01.txt
"...Many of the meeting attendees seemed to be concerned about the reported transport of fish, opihi and rocks from Maui to Oahu. Fargo said those items are getting noticed because ferry inspectors are finding them. And, he added, the people who took the items often admitted to having them, not realizing those items were not allowed to be transported. When pressed about what ferry officials do to let passengers know those items aren't allowed, Fargo acknowledged that prohibited items are part of the online reservation confirmation receipt. 'Ignorance of the law is no excuse,' an audience member said."
Actually, under Act 2 and its EO, fish and limu are allowed on HSF. Fish and limu are what were being plundered from Maui last May, June, July, and August. Opihi and rocks are some of what is suppose to be not allowed on HSF. Still, opihi can be attempted to be smuggled with no penalty for being caught, as long as the opihi are not immature. See a full summary report on this below based on OTF reports.
"Jim Albertini, a Puna resident who has been outspoken about his concerns of military use of depleted uranium on the Big Island, asked Fargo about the possibility of military use of the ferry, and of contamination by depleted uranium remnants on military Stryker vehicles. 'The Superferry is not going to carry any depleted uranium, period,' Fargo said." And left shortly thereafter.
OTF Documented Natural Resource Takings via the "large capacity ferry vessel"
