Posted on: Sunday, December 5, 2004
State gets anti-terror grant
By Frank Oliveri
Advertiser Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON — Hawai'i will receive nearly $30 million in federal money for homeland security programs, officials announced Friday.
The money includes $6.45 million for Honolulu under a program for places at high risk of terrorist attack and $23 million for other initiatives.
The State Homeland Security Program will get $10.7 million as its share of the $23 million grant from the U.S. Office for Domestic Preparedness.
The rest will go to various areas, including a law enforcement terrorism prevention program ($3.9 million), emergency management performance grants ($1.7 million), metropolitan medical response system ($227,592) and the citizen corps program ($135,628).
Sen. Daniel Inouye, D-Hawai'i, said the grants will "further help ensure the safety of Hawai'i from possible terrorist threats."
Honolulu security officials likely will use the $6.45 million federal urban security grant to improve first responders' communications and possibly to consolidate dispatcher operations under one roof, officials said Friday.
Honolulu received no federal urban security money in fiscal 2004, after receiving $6.87 million in 2003.
Sen. Daniel Akaka, D-Hawai'i, and local officials received news of the grant Friday with relief. They were concerned about the city's isolation and vulnerability to attack.
Akaka applauded the Department of Homeland Security's recognition of Honolulu's need for assistance.
"Unlike most major American cities, Honolulu is geographically insulated from the rest of the country," Akaka noted. "When disaster strikes, we cannot call on neighboring states for assistance."
Doug Aton, administrator of the O'ahu Civil Defense Agency, said he was surprised to hear that the city had won another grant. He said the Honolulu Working Group, comprising all city departments, including police and fire, would determine how the new money would be used.
He suggested it might best be used to continue improving interagency communications and consolidating police and fire dispatch centers in one new building.
Each agency will receive a share of the grant money.
"This grant is very important because it focuses spending," Aton said. "The big advantage is that this money goes directly to the cities to help achieve your objectives."
In 2003, Honolulu received $6.87 million from the Department of Homeland Security under its Urban Area Security Initiative, which is a set-aside for communities deemed as densely populated and at high risk for attack. Aton said the 2003 grant was used to improve communication between the various disaster response agencies on O'ahu.
Improving communications between first responders was considered a high priority since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in New York. During that event, police and fire officials were unable to communicate effectively, which, ultimately, led to loss of life.
Akaka said Honolulu Harbor and Pearl Harbor are considered high-risk targets where an attack could hurt the economy or the nation's ability to defend itself.
"The revocation of ... funding to Honolulu in fiscal year 2004 was of great concern to me and the state of Hawai'i," Akaka said. "I have been working with (the Department of Homeland Security) to rectify this problem, and I'm gratified that the funding has been restored."
Honolulu was one of 50 cities across the nation selected for the urban grant. The cities will share some $854.6 million.
The biggest chunk of that $854.6 million, nearly a quarter of the total, will be directed toward New York City, which has complained that it has been shortchanged in the distribution of such money.
Use of the federal money is to be directed to state governments, which will then pass the money on to municipalities.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
