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<b>FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
</b>
<br><br>
<b><u>For more information contact:<br><br>
</u>Puanani Rogers : 808-652- 1249<br><br>
Andrew Cabebe: 808 - 634-8606<br><br>
Ka'iulani Huff: 808-346-0975<br><br>
</b>PRESS RELEASE - Thursday, August 7 2008 12:22 PM HST<br><br>
Police are threatening arrest at this moment, as a group of <b>30 Kanaka
Maoli (Native Hawaiian) protesters</b> and their supporters
blockade a construction site at Naue, on the northshore of
Kaua'i, Hawai'i.<br><br>
Seven protesters have locked arms through sections of PVC pipe, which
will have to be cut apart to separate them.<br><br>
They are protesting<b> Joe Brescia, CEO of Aluminum and Glass in
Alameda and Irvine. </b>Brescia is constructing a
luxury house atop an <b>ancient burial site </b>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.<br><br>
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. <b>"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."<br><br>
</b>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.<br><br>
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.<br><br>
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<br><br>
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.<br><br>
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.<br><br>
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.<br><br>
<b><u>For more information contact:<br><br>
</u>Puanani Rogers : 808-652- 1249<br><br>
Andrew Cabebe: 808 - 634-8606<br><br>
Ka'iulani Huff: 808-346-0975<br><br>
<u>Additional information and resources:<br>
</u></b>Native Hawaiian Legal Corporation - Camille Kalama and Alan
Murakami: 521-2302<br>
<a href="http://www.kauaiworld.com/articles/2008/05/11/news/news01.txt" eudora="autourl">
http://www.kauaiworld.com/articles/2008/05/11/news/news01.txt<br>
</a>
<a href="http://kauaiworld.com/articles/2008/01/12/news/news01.txt" eudora="autourl">
http://kauaiworld.com/articles/2008/01/12/news/news01.txt<br>
</a>
<a href="http://www.kauaiworld.com/articles/2008/02/08/news/news04.txt" eudora="autourl">
http://www.kauaiworld.com/articles/2008/02/08/news/news04.txt<br>
</a>
<a href="http://kauaieclectic.blogspot.com/2008/07/details-of-naue-burials-lawsuit.html" eudora="autourl">
http://kauaieclectic.blogspot.com/2008/07/details-of-naue-burials-lawsuit.html<br>
<br>
<br>
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