State struggles with security
By Frank Oliveri
Advertiser Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON — Federal mandates, paperwork and money problems are overwhelming Hawai'i homeland security officials as they struggle to secure airports and ports and improve communication among emergency responders.
"We have grave concerns about homeland security," said Doug Aton, director of Honolulu's Civil Defense.
"Some kind of direction has to come from the federal government, and we're not heading in that direction."
It could take several years before Hawai'i meets federal requirements for security and cooperation among first responders — police, fire, hazardous materials teams and other agencies.
When first responders can't communicate effectively "it can literally cost lives," the General Accounting Office said late last year.
Pressure is mounting on local officials to prioritize their needs, apply for a long list of complex federal grants and develop strategies for spending the money. They also must train first responders and create tracking systems to show how federal grant money is being used.
"The urgency of achieving that has not diminished — and in fact becomes more acute — with each passing day," said Sen. Daniel Akaka, top-ranking Democrat on the Senate subcommittee that oversees homeland security.
Many other states are facing the same problems.
The Bush administration, meanwhile, cut $9.5 million in homeland security grants to Hawai'i in 2004. Hawai'i received $29.1 million in grant allocations for 2004 and has received $74.3 million for homeland security since the 9/11 attacks.
Honolulu has made strides, forming a working group to help set priorities.
And the state created the Hawai'i Preparedness Executive Committee, composed of county and state officials who meet quarterly to discuss ongoing efforts.
But even as Honolulu, with 70 percent of the state's population, struggles to meet federal mandates, other counties "have a long way to come" to catch up, Aton said.
Suzanne Mencer, director of domestic preparedness at the Department of Homeland Security, said the department is working to make money available as quickly as possible.
Honolulu, one of 30 counties nationally in need of "critical enhancements," was approved to receive $6.8 million. County officials now must win approval for a strategy on how it will use the money.
"There are all kinds of loopholes we have to jump through to get the money," Aton said. "We need a whole bureaucracy to do this kind of thing."
Maj. Gen. Robert Lee, commander of the state National Guard and state head of homeland security, said Hawai'i receives its fair share of federal money.
"All the states could use more money," he said.
But Lee said the accounting systems used by local governments in Hawai'i are "archaic" and represent a major hurdle.
"You have congressional ... regulations that don't allow them to draw down on money unless you show receipts," Lee said. "Execution is a bit tough. Under current laws the municipalities can't execute any quicker."
Lee was instrumental in creating the state's security strategy. Its key points include:
• Creating a training program with specific goals that ties together federal, state and county first responders, the private sector and military agencies.
• Focusing on airports, ports and agricultural terrorism.
• Building security-related relationships with Pacific Rim nations.
"I don't want to stop them at Honolulu airport," Lee said of potential terrorists. "We want to stop them before they get here."
He also said the strategy stresses the need for awareness, saying the recent bombings in Spain show what can happen when local authorities fail to detect an emerging threat.
Lee said officials spent more than $100,000 last year sending a brochure to every home in Hawai'i explaining the color-coded terror threat levels. The brochure added a new threat level — black — to indicate an ongoing terrorism attack on the Islands.
Aton looks out over Honolulu's thriving harbor with trepidation these days.
"It's one of the things I worry about," he said. "If they knew how active our harbor is, it might be a real target for al-Qaida."
About 98 percent of the goods imported into Hawai'i come by sea. Honolulu Harbor receives more than 1 million tons of food and farm products and more than 2 million tons of manufactured goods each year.
In 2002, Honolulu received 1,300 foreign ships and about 300,000 containers, or about half of all the cargo brought into the state.
"Container security deserves the full attention of the Department of Homeland Security," Akaka said. Hawai'i and several Hawai'i companies received $4.1 million in port security grants this year through an emergency spending bill late last year.
"If al-Qaida wanted to make a statement, nothing would be more profound than to hit paradise in the Pacific," Aton said.
