Defendants Ask for Traditional Hawaiian Mediation Instead of Trial

The state has then proposed a revised set of administrative rules regarding use of the restricted sacred area and will be deciding on vote by the end of this week.

To promote what it calls “safe access to the Mauna Kea summit”, the state has proposed an emergency rule to be considered by the Hawaii Board of Land and Natural Resources at its regularly scheduled meeting on Friday, July 10. This resulted in 31 arrests but has failed to dampen the protesters’ fighting spirit. TMT made a decision to temporarily suspend construction.

“Our period of inactivity has made us a better organization in the long run”.

According to a shocked Kealoha Pisciotta, one of six plaintiffs who are challenging TMT’s construction permit, the announcement triggered an island-wide alert for protesters.

The construction of the Thirty Meter Telescope has been on and off for months after demonstrators camped out in the mountaintop in April to ward off the construction team.

The company suspended construction in April after law enforcement arrested protesters for blocking the road to the summit and refusing to leave the construction site.

Ige has responded to the protests, saying Hawaii must do a better job of caring for the mountain but that construction crews have the right to proceed.

In the proposed addition, the DLNR clarifies the area covered by the overall rule as “any lands within one mile of the Mauna Kea Observatory Access Road”.

The proposed rule can be either be reviewed online or in person at the offices of the Division of Forestry and Wildlife either on Oahu at 1151 Punchbowl Street, Room 325, or on Hawaii Island at 19 E. Kawili Street in Hilo during regularly scheduled business hours. The area should be strictly closed to public access from 5pm to 8am, except for passers-by on motor vehicles. Native Hawaiians have been protesting the project stating the area is a sacred land for them.

“I’m sorry to say that Mr. Moore and the Thirty Meter Telescope board are demonstrating their lack of willingness to follow the law”, Pisciotta said.

He further said that his administration is in full support of the project and gave the project all possible rights to proceed.

Telescope proponents spent seven years planning and seeking permits, a process that included public hearings, Ige said.