KAILUA-KONA — The Kona International Airport should be set to receive international flights by November 1.
KAILUA-KONA — The Kona International Airport should be set to receive international flights by November 1.
But the news gets better, Gov. David Ige and his transportation department heads revealed at a town hall meeting at Hawaii Community College — Palamanui on Friday evening.
“We committed to Customs and Border Protection that we would replace the existing inspections facility with a permanent facility within five years,” Ige said.
Keeping a promise that was broken years ago to make the facility permanent was essential to moving the process along, said Department of Transportation director Ford Fuchigami.
A contract has been awarded for $4 million in design funds to help bring the facility up to snuff, Fuchigami said.
The DOT plans to install 10 automatic passport control kiosks to speed up processing of international passengers, Fuchigami said. The department is working off a checklist of items that CBP requires before the inspection station can reopen in time to accommodate a new Hawaiian Airlines route between Kona and Haneda set to start near the beginning of 2017.
Other requirements are being met related to security and staffing, as identified by a CBP specialist who recently visited the airport, Fuchigami said.
These last steps may be only barrier between Kona and the $50 million in annual revenue that each flight would bring.
“I can tell you there is a lot of interest by other carriers to fly direct to Kona,” Ige said.
Ige said he had engaged in four conversations with the deputy commissioner of CBP in an effort to get the airport recertified to receive international flights, and staff has been toiling to make it a reality.
The Community Connection town hall was designed to encourage feedback from the public and collaboration between the community and the administration, featuring department heads from the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Land and Natural Resources as well as state homelessness coordinator Scott Morishige.
Ige says his focus has been on action rather than drama, and said he’s worked to reduce the state’s backlog of transportation projects by $200 million, a bottleneck which built up over years and has threatened federal funding for the endeavors.
Ige said his administration has worked to fix efficiency and effectiveness at the core of government.
“We’re seeing signs of progress in a lot of areas,” he said.
The governor also spoke at a Kona-Kohala Chamber of Commerce luncheon on Friday that saw the installation of officers and directors.
Deputy DOT director Ed Sniffen confirmed that the Kawaihae Bypass will not be built anytime soon. Residents have called for the bypass to ease congestion in Waimea.
“It’s still on the long range plan, but when we look at what we can fund over the next 20 years, $260 million to $280 million is not something we can fund at this time,” Sniffen said.
A mini bypass to reduce some of the flow through town is still possible, he said.
DLNR first deputy Kekoa Kaluhiwa said he couldn’t shed much light on the firing of Thomas Friel, the head of the state Division of Conservation and Resources Enforcement, because it is a personnel matter. Friel recently told Honolulu media he was let go because he tried to take on a culture of corruption within the department.
“Whatever he is saying he is investigating in the media, we are waiting to hear that from him,” Kaluhiwa said. “We are committed to seeing this through.”
Kaluhiwa pledged not to give up on bringing a shooting facility to the island after the Legislature failed to fund an environmental assessment and other aspects of a planned ranged near Waikoloa. The attempt to gain funding will be renewed next session, he said.
“It’s mind-boggling that you don’t have a shooting range on the Big Island,” he said. “I’m personally committed to coming back in the next four to five months and look at alternative sites, either public or private.”
While the slow pace of affairs at the State Historic Preservation Division has derailed such projects as the makeover of Kailua Park, Kaluhiwa said the department is looking to fill one and possibly two state archaeologist positions on the Big Island.