Preserve will cater to the rich
I read with interest the front-page article (TGI, Dec. 7) about the North Shore Preserve.
For the record: Many of my ancestors were put on preserves, then called reservations, and the government threw commodity cheese, rotting meat and vermin-ridden flour at them. Some members of my family still live on “preserves” and still receive commodity cheese. I’ve even eaten some while visiting my family. It’s become an “in” joke!
So will our mayor and/or members of the council provide commodity cheese to those living in the North Shore Preserve? Or will they step it up a bit and offer brie?
Personally, I see this new development as catering to the rich and off-island owners. My concern is that locals will be hired at minimum wage to tend these “gentlemen farms” while the owners sit back and reap the results of their labor.
Outrageous!
Susan Campbell, Kalaheo
Elected leaders should oppose pesticides
Aloha. Can we just call an apple an apple and an orange an orange? Our people, land and sea are being poisoned. Our voted-in representatives are fully aware of the situation and choose not to do anything about it. Quite the contrary, they are blatantly allowing, if not encouraging, it to happen.
Are we going to go silently to slaughter or speak up loudly and protest this serious situation? What happened on Lehua Island is a travesty that could have been avoided. The seed company that dropped 10 tons of the rodenticide on Lehua needs to be held accountable.
Has Scott Enright, head of the Department of Agriculture, addressed not only the cleanup that needs to take place, but a huge fine on this company for killing our marine life? And the elephant in the room: Where are the pictures or proof of all the dead rats? There were plenty of fish trying to swim for their lives that could have been tested. Not the totally decomposed ones.
We aren’t that stupid; an inconclusive report on the cause of death of these fish and birds is a slap in the face. Come on, representatives, you know what needs to be done. Quit sticking your heads in the sand and speak up. The studies are in and pesticides cause many harmful health problems; it’s a known fact. The commercials are saying if you live or work in an area that has been sprayed with pesticides and have these problems, call this number.
Problems such as abnormal limb development (how horrifying), cancer, brain development problems, asthma, and the list goes on and on. We need a change to safer agricultural farming practices and we need them now!
Dustin Barca has a good idea of changing farming practices with pesticides to organic farming of crops like hemp that could bring a lot of money to our island without killing our people, land and sea.
Linda Bothe, Kalaheo
