Wahiawa camp fights eviction
By Will Hoover
Advertiser North Shore Writer
Bruce Asato • The Honolulu Advertiser
State legislators, city officials and union representatives came together yesterday to pledge their support for a living piece of Hawai'i's plantation history — the 300 residents of Poamoho Camp, who are being evicted from the only home many of them have known.
Teodoro Agduyang, 80, displays a treasured photo of the Poamoho Camp 9B Filipino Community Independence Day Celebration from July 4, 1953. Agduyang has lived in the community for nearly six decades, and says he doesn't know where he'll go if evicted.
"I'm 80," said Teodoro Agduyang, who raised a family and grew old in nearly six decades at the camp. "I was 22 when I came here. Where would I go if they bulldozed my house? I've got no place to go. Under a bridge, maybe."
About 300 former and current Del Monte pineapple workers who live in 63 homes at the camp near Wahiawa have been ordered to leave by June 30, because the company is not renewing its lease on 2,200 acres owned by the Galbraith Estate, including the 34 acres on which the homes sit.
Local 142 of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, which represents the pineapple workers, received notice of the eviction Jan. 16. Since then, efforts to negotiate with Del Monte have failed.
"Unfortunately, Del Monte has chosen not to be at any of our community meetings," said Senate President Robert Bunda, D-22nd (North Shore, Wahiawa), at yesterday's gathering at the Poamoho Camp clubhouse near Wahiawa. "Del Monte has got to know it's not going to divide and conquer this Poamoho community."
Calls to Del Monte headquarters in Hawai'i were not returned.
Honolulu City Council Chairman Donovan Dela Cruz warned that the community is in for a tough fight.
But legislators at the rally of about 120 people said resolutions would be introduced next week asking Del Monte and Galbraith Estate to extend the eviction deadline. Local 142 representative Tracy Takano said the union would keep working on the issue, too.
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"We think we can find a solution," Takano said. "But six months just isn't time to do anything."
Poamoho Camp residents attended an informational meeting at the clubhouse, where elected officials and others spoke. The union for the Del Monte workers hopes to negotiate an extension of the eviction date, or at least financial help with moving for the residents.
Takano said the union is seeking to extend the current lease to allow the union time to work out a solution under which residents can take ownership of their homes.
Vaeleti Tyrell, 68, president of the Poamoho Camp Community association, said residents hoped they could remain in their homes, though he knew that wouldn't be easy.
"We'd like Del Monte to give us more time and financial assistance," said Tyrell, who has lived at the camp for 43 years. "But we met with them two times, and the answer is no."
The union has met with Del Monte officials and representatives for Galbraith and Bank of Hawai'i, the trustee of the estate. Michael
Magaoay, D-46th (Kahuku, North Shore, Schofield), said Galbraith Estate and the Bank of Hawaii expressed interest in working with camp residents to reach a solution. But for Del Monte, eviction seems to be a simple business decision, he said.
"They should have more aloha," he said.
In 1994, Del Monte's plantation lands in and around Poamoho were placed on the national Superfund list because of contamination concerns. The lands were taken off the list in December, Takano said — about the time Del Monte decided to stop farming the property.
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More than one person at the rally spoke about the importance of preserving what's left of Hawai'i's plantation heritage. One of the most rousing speakers was retired labor leader and social worker Ah Quon McElrath, 88.
Children play along Nui Street at Poamoho Camp on their way to shoot baskets at the playground: from left, Tevaka Sanborn, 9; Dylan Anetipa-Cabrera, 10; Brysn Albano, 11; Brennon Cabrera-Jacinto, 8; and Edwin Tyrell, 9. All but Dylan live at the plantation camp.
"We need to be able to fight those with power who would rather that you leave the thing alone," said McElrath. She said those in power should be forced to say, "We will not leave you homeless to join the other 10,000 homeless people on O'ahu."
After the meeting, Agduyang walked slowly toward his home at 719 Nui Ave., where he and his wife, Carlina, have lived for decades. From the wall of his carport, he took down a long, framed photo shot at the camp on July 4, 1953.
"That's me," he said, placing his thumb on the image of a young man near the end of a long line of plantation workers. "I love this photo because it's a souvenir."
After June 30, the photo might be one of the few things left to remind him of his life at the camp, he said.
Bill Paty, a long-time community leader who also spoke at the rally, said he remains hopeful.
"Nothing comes easy in Hawai'i," Paty said. "But this ought to be a thing that can be worked out somehow. Poamoho was huge in O'ahu's pineapple history. It's just a downright shame to bulldoze it away and erase that legacy."
Reach Will Hoover at 525-8038 or whoover@honoluluadvertiser.com.
Correction: The union's position on the Del Monte lease of lands on which 300 Poamoho Camp residents live was unclear in a previous version of this story.
