[News] Native Hawaiian struggle intensifies

[Anti-Imperialist News]

FOR IMMEDIATE 
RELEASE 


For more information contact:

Puanani Rogers : 808-652- 1249

Andrew Cabebe: 808 - 634-8606

Ka'iulani Huff: 808-346-0975

PRESS RELEASE - Thursday, August 7 2008  12:22 PM HST

Police are threatening arrest at this moment, as a group of 30 Kanaka 
Maoli (Native Hawaiian) protesters and their supporters blockade  a 
construction site at Naue, on the northshore of  Kaua'i, Hawai'i.

Seven protesters have locked arms through sections of PVC pipe, which 
will have to be cut apart to separate them.

They are protesting Joe Brescia,  CEO of Aluminum and Glass in 
Alameda and Irvine.  Brescia  is constructing  a luxury house atop an 
ancient burial site where the remains of at least 30 Native Hawaiian 
women and children were discovered during preliminary site work. 
Archaeologists say the ocean-front site likely contains additional burials.

Kanaka Maoli came from throughout the Islands to participate in the 
action, saying it was time to draw a line in the sand and stop the 
ongoing desecration of burials. "This is not just about Naue," said 
Andre Perez of Oahu. "This is happening all over Hawaii. The process 
continues to fail us so we are forced to take this drastic action."

Construction at the Naue site began on July 7 with the erection of a 
dust fence, earth-moving activities and pouring concrete for footings 
to support the stilts required for houses built within the tsunami 
inundation zone. The house is being built by Joe Brescia, a 
California businessman who in recent years has developed and sold 
several properties - including one where a burial was found - along 
the same stretch of fragile shoreline.

Since early this year, Kanaka Maoli protesters and their supporters 
have been defending the site from the commencement of construction 
activities. A round-the-clock vigil began in April 2008, and protests 
on June 2 and June 24 were temporarily successful in delaying construction.

The County of Kauai and State Office of Historic Preservation have 
issued approvals of the home construction. However, the Native 
Hawaiian Legal Corp. is challenging those approvals in court, 
contending they were improperly granted. A hearing on

an injunction is set for Aug. 14 in Kauai's Fifth Circuit Court, and 
work on the house must stop Aug. 12 under a scheduling agreement for 
the hearing.

The project previously was delayed by legal challenges related to 
shoreline setback laws that date back to 2001, when Brescia, 
represented by Lihu'e-based attorney Walton Hong, began seeking to 
develop the parcel.  Brescia was attempting to build closer to the 
ocean than state law allows until area residents challenged his plans in court.

The remote area, which lies between Wainiha and Ha`ena, has seen an 
explosion of luxury and vacation home development in recent years, 
along with seething community tensions related to the losses of 
affordable housing, neighborhood cohesion, beach access and 
protection of sacred sites.

For more information contact:

Puanani Rogers : 808-652- 1249

Andrew Cabebe: 808 - 634-8606

Ka'iulani Huff: 808-346-0975

Additional information and resources:
Native Hawaiian Legal Corporation - Camille Kalama and Alan Murakami: 521-2302
http://www.kauaiworld.com/articles/2008/05/11/news/news01.txt
http://kauaiworld.com/articles/2008/01/12/news/news01.txt
http://www.kauaiworld.com/articles/2008/02/08/news/news04.txt
http://kauaieclectic.blogspot.com/2008/07/details-of-naue-burials-lawsuit.html



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