Posted on: Thursday, July 25, 2002

Panel OKs $14.3 million for projects in Hawai'i

By Susan Roth
Advertiser Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON — Hawai'i harbor and water projects could receive $14.3 million in fiscal 2003 under a spending bill a Senate panel approved yesterday.

The bill next moves to the Senate floor. Once it passes there, it will have to be reconciled with a related House measure.

The money for Hawai'i's projects was inserted into the Senate bill by Sen. Dan Inouye, D-Hawai'i, second-ranking member on the Appropriations Committee. Inouye emphasized that the bill contains $9 million in harbor construction money.

That includes $4.3 million for construction of the small boat harbor in Kikiaola on Kaua'i, $2.3 million for Ma'alaea Harbor on Maui, and $2 million for continued improvements to Kaumalapau Harbor on Lana'i, which received $1.3 million last year.

Money for beach erosion control projects such as those for Waikiki and Kihei beaches would decrease under the measure, but Democratic staff said the cuts would not create problems, because budgets for those projects were determined by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The bill also includes $2 million for a new water management project involving Waiahole Ditch and $1 million for a new flood-plain management program.