BARCELONA, Spain — The director of a Spanish research center says the international consortium that wants to build a giant telescope on Hawaii’s tallest peak despite protests from Native Hawaiians has decided to seek a building permit for an alternative site in the Canary Islands.
Canary Islands Astrophysics Institute Director Rafael Rebolo told The Associated Press on Monday that he received a letter from the head of the Thirty Meter Telescope project saying its board recently decided “to proceed with the request to seek a building permit” for the island of La Palma.
However, Rebolo insisted the consortium that already obtained a permit in Hawaii still plans to put the $1.4 billion telescope on the top of Mauna Kea.
Some Native Hawaiians believe the Big Island mountain is sacred, and protesters are in their fourth week of blocking access to Mauna Kea’s summit to prevent construction.
“We are observing what is happening in Hawaii with the maximum respect,” Rebolo, the point man for the alternative site in Spain’s Canary Islands, said.
“Our position is that we are here if the TMT project needs us,” he said by phone from the institute’s headquarters on the island of Tenerife.
Scientists selected Mauna Kea’s summit for the giant telescope because the weather and air conditions there are among the best in the world for viewing the skies.
The Hawaii Supreme Court last year ruled the international consortium behind the telescope lawfully obtained a permit to build the telescope, clearing the way for the construction to proceed.
Separately, the state Department of Land and Natural Resources granted a two-year extension to the deadline for starting construction. The new deadline is Sept. 26, 2021.
Given the opposition of some local residents, the international consortium announced in October 2016 that a backup location in the Canary Island’s — Roque de los Muchachos Observatory on La Palma had been chosen.
Rebolo said local officials who would have jurisdiction over a La Palma building permit solidly back the project and the observatory site already passed environmental impact evaluations.
“Our mountains are not sacred,” he said.
Last week, Spain’s science minister, Pedro Duque, reiterated the government’s full support for the Canary Islands serving as Plan B for building the telescope.
“We have all the necessary plans at all levels – the people, the speed, the systems, absolutely everything is ready if they want to come,” Duque said.
The Canary Islands archipelago, located west of Morocco in the eastern Atlantic, is already home to several powerful telescopes. The Roque de los Muchachos Observatory hosts more than 20.
Good, I hope they move to the Canary Island so that all those crooks in the State and UH that have been scratching their backs with kickbacks and large envelopes full of benjamines that are taxpayer’s money can no longer be “honored” from that $17 million dollar “deal”.
If you look at the same propaganda that rail used “shovel ready and high paying local jobs” which in reality maybe just a few locals were hired and some mainland company brought their own employees, how many of the telescope employment would actually be locals or for that matter Hawaiians? Very few to none.
That’s what the corrupt State gets for shafting the Hawaiians for so long. Ala Ala, awanien.
What a great victory for Hawaiian people and their ability to move forward intelligently into the future.
harry oyama
100% agree about telling the locals that they will get more jobs for us. True they bring in mainland workers, same as Kauai. Well said
What a shame. It’s well understood even most native Hawaiians see the telescope project as a noble enterprise, endeavoring to accomplish science in a clean and respectful manner—non-polluting and not harmful environmentally. It seems this is more about wider grievances and settling scores! In the grand scope of things afterall, of development here in the islands, where were all these voices when all the big money-machine hotels and condos were going up? How many heiaus are buried beneath the commercial concrete of Waikiki? I’d say that train left the station, fellas. So now you want to stop a few scientists from simply pointing a metal tube at the sky to take pictures? What a shame.
Having the TMT move to the Canary Islands would be a huge loss for Hawaii. Despite Harry’s conjectures above, TMT would provide many jobs for locals as well as literally MILLIONS of dollars a year given directly back to the community. They have already given millions of dollars to local communities. All those in opposition have not once acknowledged that fact. The fact that they would be denying thousands of LOCAL and HAWAIIAN keikis and families from benefiting from the TMT. They cry about being marginalized, well here is an opportunity for your culture and your people to directly benefit, and now you cry about that too… You want to be taken seriously, stop the bull$s!t of literally blocking science and progress for your own people.
And how is this any different from Christians banning abortion in certain states because their religion says it’s wrong…? I’m sorry, you don’t get to make that decision for EVERYONE just because it’s something you personally believe in. You don’t get to limit or deny access to other human beings right to make that choice. You don’t get to stop the progress of humanity just because of some outdated religious notions.