Posted on: Friday, January 25, 2002
NEIGHBOR ISLANDS
Prayer vigil today for Maui cultural site
By Timothy Hurley
Advertiser Maui County Bureau
LAHAINA, Maui — A Native Hawaiian group will hold a prayer vigil this morning in response to the cancellation of a cease-and-desist order preventing construction of a well in a culturally sensitive region of Kaua'ula Valley.
The cancellation notice, signed Wednesday by Gilbert Coloma-Agaran, chairman of the Commission on Water Resource Management, allows Makila Land Co. to begin drilling the well.
Ke'eaumoku Kapu, president of Kuleana Ku'ikahi, said members of the group are "appalled'' by the state's action.
"We feel there are (burial) sites that need to be recognized," said U'ilani Kapu, another member of the group largely made up of members of the seven families who live in Kaua'ula Valley above Lahaina.
Construction was halted by the commission Jan. 15 over concerns for cultural sites and artifacts. The state Historic Preservation Division had recommended that the developer conduct an archaeological inventory.
A member of Coloma-Agaran's staff said yesterday that the state attorney general's office had reviewed the cease-and-desist action and found no conclusive reason to continue the order.
The company's permit does not specifically say that an archaeological inventory must be conducted, but it does require that work be halted if subsurface cultural remains are encountered.
U'ilani Kapu said that when a drill strikes a burial or artifact, it will be too late. She said the group is investigating potential legal remedies. In the meantime, she said, members will meet at the construction site this morning to pray.
Jim Riley of Makila Land Co. could not be reached for comment. He declined earlier comment on the cease-and-desist order, except to say he was unaware of any requirement for an archaeological survey.
Makila Land Co. is part of a group of companies, established by the same business partnership, proposing to develop house sites on the West Maui slopes formerly planted in sugarcane.
