(BIVN) – A gathering in Hilo on Friday morning concerning a commercial spaceport proposal for East Hawaiʻi stirred emotions inside the meeting and out.
Terri Napeahi, a Keaukaha Action Network organizer, joined a group of sign waving residents in the parking lot of the Panaʻewa Gym, as representatives from the Alaska Aerospace Corporation met with area-residents inside the building. The company wants to develop a Pacific Spaceport Complex-Hawaii on W.H. Shipman land between Haʻena Beach and Pāpaʻi Bay.
“I’m an ag farmer. I live there, and I’m concerned,” said Napheahi, who took issue with Friday’s meeting.
“This meeting was put together as a private meeting. It was not a public meeting,” Napeahi said. “I found out that the letter was only inviting [Hawaiian Home Lands] leaders, Shipman, and our politicians. Our Hawaiian community was not invited. I questioned that, and then they opened it up to the Panaʻewa and Keaukaha Farmers Association.”
“It is unethical to hold a private meeting before a public meeting,” Napeahi said. “What do they need to know about rockets? I lived next to an airport all my life, by ‘touch and go.’ You are going to do another impact on our Hawaiian families?”
Video by David Corrigan, published Jan. 25, 2018.
Napeahi, who entered the building for only a few short moments to deride the meeting, said the subject of the spaceport “is going to be an issue for the whole entire island, not just us.”
A public informational meeting regarding the proposal is planned for February 6, at a location to be determined.
