There has been two articles written and printed by Hawaii Tribune-Herald reporter Michael Brestovansky on the dissatisfaction with the road construction in Puna. Many of us who have been born and raised here read the paper and wonder “what did they expect?”
For one thing, land in Puna has always been cheap and there is a reason for that. When the Kalapana Black Sand Beach was there, the place was fabulous. However, the names of places in Puna explain what most of us have suspected for a long time. Upon reaching adulthood, we avoided purchasing land in Puna for that reason. Instead, we made the choice to pay the extra dollars to live in a safer place, mainly,West Hawaii, where we pay the highest property taxes and get the same benefits as those living in Puna.
Puna has places named Pohoiki and Kapoho. Our predecessors named those places as such because they knew that it was “poho” to invest there. As a child, we all learned that “poho” in Hawaiian meant “wasted or not profitable” because that is an active volcanic area, so why take the chance?
The news article quotes Puna resident Debra Smith as making the statement: “We think that the money should stay in lower Puna” in reference to the FEMA funds. She and others are quoted as saying things that imply that they should be rewarded for choosing to live in the vicinity of a live volcano. Some of us think that maybe they should carry some of the responsibility for choosing to live there.
West Hawaii residents have been carrying that side of the island financially for many years. We have our own traffic problems and new roads are the solution. By taking the risk of living in an area where it is considered “poho” to invest has consequences.
Paying the highest rate in property taxes should have some benefits also. Paying for roads destroyed by the volcano is a liability we never asked for. Then to complicate things more, these people complain to the county about its inability to replace the roads in a timely manner. Are we not all a part of this county with West Hawaii paying the greater part of the bills?
Leningrad Elarionoff is a resident of Waimea.