HONOLULU Officials say the state and counties in Hawaii have spent at least $7.7 million on law enforcement costs related to demonstrations opposing the Mauna Kea telescope.
HONOLULU — Officials say the state and counties in Hawaii have spent at least $7.7 million on law enforcement costs related to demonstrations opposing the Mauna Kea telescope.
The Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported Wednesday that the cost estimate includes previous county figures and new information released Wednesday by the Hawaii Attorney General’s office.
Protesters have blocked the road to the planned Thirty Meter Telescope on Mauna Kea since July because some Native Hawaiians believe the mountain summit is sacred.
The $7.7 million does not include figures from the Department of Land and Natural Resources, which has maintained officers at the site since demonstrations began.
The attorney general’s office says the state Public Safety Department spent $558,000 through Aug. 15, while $985,000 was spent on Hawaii National Guard personnel who assisted police.
———
Information from: Honolulu Star-Advertiser, http://www.staradvertiser.com
What a waste of tax payers money, millions spent so that cops can stand around practically doing nothing but get fat from lack of exercise. Bring them home to fight real crime not be some stooges for that wimp governor whose ancestors from the plantation days should have been deported back to Okinawa after their three year work contract expired
definitely a waste of taxpayer’s money. I guess no one is above the law except the Hawaiian protesters.