HONOLULU — The U.S. Department of the Interior is concerned about allegations raised by a newspaper’s investigation into the oversight and administration of lands set aside for Native Hawaiians.
HONOLULU — The U.S. Department of the Interior is concerned about allegations raised by a newspaper’s investigation into the oversight and administration of lands set aside for Native Hawaiians.
A letter dated Monday from an interior official tells the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands that the federal agency plans to establish rules for the management of homestead lots.
It would be the first time in nearly 100 years that the federal government establishes formal rules for the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act of 1920, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported. The law set up a trust of about 200,000 acres across the islands for homesteading for those who are at least 50 percent Native Hawaiian.
The letter comes after the newspaper published a series of articles highlighting mismanagement of the agency’s revocable permit program, including lax oversight and selective enforcement of month-to-month leases.
Rhea Suh, assistant interior secretary for policy, management and budget, wrote to Department of Hawaiian Home Lands Director Jobie Masagatani that the “allegations in the series of articles from the Honolulu Star-Advertiser are most concerning.”
The letter requests a “detailed summary of the interventions you have put into place or begun.”
The federal government also wants more information on the Hawaii auditor’s report that found more than $80 million out of about $588 million in homestead loans were delinquent as of June 2012.
Masagatani said the homelands agency will comply.
“In the next few days, we will transmit our formal response to the assistant secretary’s letter to address her specific issues related to our loan portfolio, revocable permits and federal rule-making,” Masagatani said.
Native Hawaiian advocates say a lack of federal rules has been a major reason for problems plaguing the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands.
“This is absolutely significant,” said Ian Lee Loy, a member of the Hawaiian Homes Commission, which oversees the department.