Letters to the Editor

Offenders need aloha with their rehabilitation

I would like to commend our public servants who are trying to put the aloha back in our state. For the past few weeks they have "cracked" down on substance-abusing offenders and drug dealers and have started to get the drug paraphernalia out of our stores to eradicate the drug problem in Hawai'i.

So, what do we do now? They are arrested and taken off the street. There are few programs in prison and literally not enough continuing aftercare and treatment programs to reintegrate into the community once they are released.

With collaboration from all community agencies, we can all make a difference to help keep these individuals from repeatedly going through the revolving doors of prison and instead making them responsible, accountable and productive members of our community.

Think about it. The problem doesn't stop with imprisoning substance-abusing offenders. It first takes hard work and effort by the individual and then support by the community.

Let's all help to put the aloha back into our communities.

We await results on public bathrooms

I am happy to see that DLNR Chairman Peter Young is willing to spend $14 million of our taxpayers' money on our state's 69 state park restrooms. They should be very nice, and for that kind of money, I would expect to see an endless supply of toilet paper in each.

I would also hope that he has a plan to maintain them so that they don't go back to the condition they are currently in. After all, if we can't maintain them (which we haven't done thus far), there is no sense in throwing good money after bad and having crews of state employees who are not willing to look after the parks that are in their care.

Mr. Young has a four- to five-year plan that will take less than $100 million? That's a lot of money, and thus far our state has shown no inkling of taking responsibility for the lands entrusted to it. State lands are strewn from one end to the other with garbage, squatters and vandalism, and our state harbors are crumbling into the waters through neglect.

While I applaud Mr. Young's rhetoric, I await solid results.

Oust Cal Kawamoto over tax proposal

First Sen. Cal Kawamoto tried to pick our pockets with the van cams and even brazenly threatened to resurrect the program after it was soundly rejected by the populace.

Now he wants to raise the general excise tax to 4.5 percent to fund the light-rail boondoggle that would benefit very few of us on O'ahu. That 4.5 percent excise tax translates into a 13.5 percent sales tax, per conventional wisdom.

Time to show Mr. Van Cam Kawamoto the exit door.

Whose brainchild was the pothole patcher?

In reading the Jan. 6 article "State seeks to sell useless $156,000 pothole patcher," I couldn't believe my eyes. I have to ask the questions:

• Who was responsible for buying this piece of equipment?

• Didn't anybody do any research?

• Did anybody read the directions where it said "Needs special mix not available in your state"? Or "use only on roads that are used by grandma to go to church on Sundays"?

This money could have gone to better use.

State needs to adopt new perspective on ice

I think the state is fighting a losing battle against ice and wasting taxpayer money.

We don't need more prisons. We don't need a bigger police force to fight ice.

State government should spend money on improving public school education and on the economy. We should work on reducing the prison population rather than increasing prison capacity.

It only tells me that we are fighting a losing battle on crime and drugs.

Here's hoping ferries won't disturb the peace

Such a wonderful idea for a ferry system to run between islands; however, I fear the encroachment by too many autos "invading" the quiet, peaceful towns of the Neighbor Islands. More traffic, more people, more pollution, maybe a rise in crime, maybe a rise in drug activity.

Ferrying people back and forth between islands sounds great. I hope the amount of vehicles allowed to the other islands will be regulated to keep the peacefulness there from being turned into another O'ahu H-1 Freeway.

Beware cost overrun on light-rail proposal

Was the Hawai'i Convention Center on budget? Has it met its funding goals? Is it paying for itself as it was supposed to do?

When the center was proposed, it was to cost a certain amount and eventually pay for itself and be self-supporting. Did you believe the center's supporters who proposed it on this basis? Do you still believe them?

If you are considering supporting the proposed light-rail system between Kapolei and Iwilei, I'd like to suggest some reading: "Megaprojects and Risk: An Anatomy of Ambition," by B. Flyvbjerg, N. Bruzelius and W. Rothengatter (Cambridge University Press, 2003).

They researched reasons for cost overruns of large projects such as the Suez Canal (1,900 percent), the Sydney Opera House (1,400 percent), and the Channel Tunnel between Great Britain and France (80 percent).

Main reason? Failure to take risk into account in planning. Ninety percent of the time, big projects cost far more than original estimates.

They suggest two keys to successful cost control: (1) hold developers more accountable for miscalculations and (2) greater private funding.

Their conclusion: "By making the decision conditional on private financiers' willingness to invest in a project, and by letting them bear the consequences of a wrong decision, there will be a better guarantee that a project will indeed only be built if there is a demand for it."

Have the potential riders of the proposed rail system been surveyed to see if they will use it? If drivers are willing to give up their cars, why aren't there more carpools on the road?

Why don't the buses have more riders?

Food for thought.

State should prohibit Waikiki shore fishing

The state should take immediate action to permanently prohibit reef fishing from the Waikiki War Memorial Natatorium to Diamond Head.

Allowing the fish to propagate would be a victory for nature, an asset for the local people and a great attraction for locals and tourists.

Normally and regularly, the spear fishermen decimate the schools within 24 hours of "open season."

Let's practice some sanity.