CEDED-LANDS DEAL

HOW MUCH ELSE WILL THE STATE GIVE AWAY?

It is just so difficult to believe that Attorney General Mark Bennett ("Some see ceded-lands deal as unfair," Feb. 17) has struck such a great settlement deal with OHA that we all should be grateful it wasn't more.

It doesn't take much of an experienced negotiator to make a deal where we, the taxpayers, pay $187 million worth of prime real estate that is highly undervalued by any stretch of the imagination over a questionable debt.

The fact that Bennett repeats over and over again that this is payment for a single issue only, those of ceded-lands payments, creates the question: How much else is owed, and will the state have the same lack of negotiating skills for settlement of these future issues?

The Hawai'i Supreme Court recently ruled that the state must settle the ceded-lands dispute with OHA before any sale or transfers of ceded lands.

With the negotiating skills just demonstrated by our AG and given his bias in favor of the Akaka bill and Hawaiian sovereignty, the so-called non-Hawaiians will be lucky if he doesn't end up giving up the entire state. Or is that the plan B?

ENVIRONMENT

PLASTIC FREE HALE'IWA GOOD EXAMPLE FOR US

The Plastic Free Hale'iwa group is to be commended for its leadership in helping consumers wean themselves from plastic bags and polystyrene foam products — even worse than plastic bags.

I'm a sailor and can't tell you how many times I've seen white plastic bags floating a few feet under the water in the Ala Wai marina like some inert immortal jellyfish.

Great example for the rest of us (and the "don't have a clue" Legislature) — Plastic Free Hale'iwa.

TRAFFIC

TRANSIT WILL ONLY BRING WORSE CONGESTION

Some comments on The Advertiser's Sunday, Feb. 10, transit story:

Advertiser: "The transit system is not expected to improve traffic conditions." The previous Sunday you wrote, "By 2030 there will be nearly 600,000 more vehicle trips a day on O'ahu than in 2005. The impact of the transit system will be overwhelmed by the impact of more drivers." In other words, traffic congestion will be far worse than it is today. So why not say so?

It is enormously important that Honolulu taxpayers grasp this preeminent and sobering fact: That after spending billions of their tax dollars on rail transit the net result will be traffic congestion that is far worse than it is today.

Advertiser: "The transit project will likely provide an economic boost, especially in the 19 communities that will host transit stations." Transit-oriented development is an economic drain on a community, not a boost. Every Mainland transit-oriented development is heavily subsidized by the taxpayers of city and/or state governments. And transit-oriented developments at all 19 stations, including Ala Moana Center, the federal building, and Bishop Street?

Advertiser: "Potential positive economic impacts include: Reduced automobile usage and lower parking requirements." You already said that vehicle trips will overwhelm any impact of transit. How can that result in reduced auto usage?

A good deal of the story appeared to come from a city hall press release. Can you please put the city's PR in quotation marks so that we will know who wrote what?

CRUISE LINE

WILL MAUI, KAUA'I NOW APPRECIATE OAHUANS?

Now that Norwegian Cruise Line is eliminating two of its three interisland cruise ships, maybe Maui and Kaua'i residents will change their tune about the Hawaii Superferry.

In addition, if the proposed federal rules change on port calls by foreign-flagged vessels goes into effect, requiring 48-hour stays at foreign ports between calls at U.S. destinations, perhaps these outer island residents will be a bit more grateful to have kama'aina visit.

I still contend that the only alien species they object to are us two-legged kind from O'ahu.

Maybe after they lose hundred of thousands of Mainland and foreign visitors annually, hundreds of millions of tourist dollars and thousands of local jobs, they will appreciate the Superferry bringing family and friends from O'ahu, along with our spending money, to their islands.

ENTERTAINMENT

WAIKIKI BADLY NEEDS A MOVIE THEATER

To the new owners of Consolidated Theatres: Please reopen the Waikiki twin theaters.

Surely with all the condos and young people living in Waikiki, the neighborhood can support one theater. We all so miss being able to walk to the movies, instead of the hassle of driving to a multiplex, battling parking and people.

I'm sure the theater would get the tourist trade, too, if an arrangement could be made to release the new movies to Hawai'i theaters a week earlier than on the Mainland. Please! Waikiki badly needs a movie theater.

ROADWAYS

BETTER CONSTRUCTION IS BEST POTHOLE SOLUTION

Our mayor claims progress in Honolulu's war against potholes, with 185,000 repairs completed in 2007. But the battle's not over, he concedes. New holes are created as old holes are repaired.

Advice to mayor: Continuous repairs are not the solution. The true cure is better-constructed roads.

Potholes are not the only problem. Our roads are bumpy, lumpy, rough and are a very poor excuse for roads. Poor construction is the norm.

Other U.S. cities don't experience rain potholes problems. And don't their streets suffer from ravages of winter snow and blistering summer heat? So why does Honolulu, picked as the U.S. city with the worst Third World-like roads, always blame our woes on rain?

Does Honolulu have a process to monitor road construction? Please explain, Mr. Mayor.

Any newly resurfaced streets with wavy striping (Kam IV Road) indicate uneven surfaces.

University Avenue is to be re-paved in 2008. Wasn't it re-paved three years ago?

Unless the administration defines and acknowledges the true causes for our miserable roads, this legacy for drivers will be perpetual.

Will the administration justify the $1,985,812 spent for our Royal Hawaiian Band in 2006 for the few patrons who got to hear them, but only a paltry $20,583,418 for highways and streets used by our 500,000 stressed-out taxpaying drivers?

TRANSIT

PROJECTED TRAVEL TIME IS JUST PIE IN THE SKY

How gullible can we get? Forty minutes from Kapolei to Hono-lulu with 20-second open-door time per station? I don't think so!

Train time at each station is governed by how many people get off and on, and there are usually at least two to three peak loading stations.

I have seen longer open-door time caused by many people trying to get on but being polite to slow-moving, older people or women with babies and children. I have seen doors being reopened to free clothing or briefcases. Before people get on, the people exiting have to get off.

With 9,000 people being moved each way per hour at peak times, how many people will be on each train? Assuming 10 trains in one direction or a six-minute/two mile spacing between trains, that's 900 people per train. About half will get off at the downtown station. Others need to get on, and 20 seconds isn't going to do it.

The shorter the time spacing between trains, the bigger the possibility that a delay at one station will delay the whole system. Forty minutes is perfection and isn't going to happen. Maybe in the middle of the night.

NORTH KOREA

LITTLE INDICATION THAT WEAPONS DISMANTLED

The article on the misgivings of Korean-American violinist Lisa Kim about going to Pyongyang with the New York Philharmonic (Island Life, Feb. 15) was incisive and moving, but included an error that ought not be allowed to stand.

The writer said the North Korean government of Kim Jong Il had "agreed to dismantle its nuclear weapons program."

Not so. The government in Pyongyang has given little indication that it is willing to give up its nuclear arms or the program to produce them. It has been dismantling a worn-out nuclear reactor at Yongbyon but that is all as has been evident in all the reports on the so-called "six party talks" in which China, the U.S., South Korea, Japan and Russia have been urging North Korea to denuclearize.

Smaller point: The Korean peninsula was divided in 1945 at the end of World War II, not 1948 as reported by the article's author.

AFRICA

ALL MUST DO MORE TO BRING PEACE TO DARFUR

February marks the fifth anniversary of the genocide in Darfur. President Bush has pledged to do everything in his power to ensure that genocide is not perpetrated on his watch, yet it continues in Darfur.

President Bush could bring a legacy of peace to Darfur by fully implementing the Sudan Accountability and Divestment Act, enforce and support UNAMID deployment, employ more coordinated, forceful and comprehensive diplomacy with all of Sudan and better coordinate with our allies and, lastly, lobby China to bring peace to Darfur.

Locally, we must continue to let our legislators know that we care, and that we must not be complicit. Both citizens and leaders alike must do everything in their power to do more to bring peace to the people of Darfur.