City needs plan for burials, sites along rail route
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The chance of the city's 20-mile transit project being built without disturbances to Hawaiian burials and risks to historic or architectural assets is about zero.
In most cases, ancient burials are unmarked. They are more frequently found in sandy soil near the sea or in caves, but families also were known to bury their loved ones near their dwellings inland.
That's why it's imperative for the city to develop a plan for responding to burial discoveries in a sensitive way that involves the community but sets out the circumstances in which reburial of the remains nearby would be the most rational course.
Fortunately, the city seems to be on this path already, having witnessed multiple cases that have sparked new controversies:
Bottom line: If it's this difficult to build markets and single-family homes without unforeseen obstacles, it's going to be impossible to build the city's largest public-works project without a plan.
Grasping this reality, city transit planners have begun discussions with state historic sites officials and with the O'ahu Island Burial Council. The aim is to develop a memorandum of agreement that would involve stakeholders in laying out protocols for how to proceed with the project.
This is a smart approach. Because the rail project involves federal funds, the bar is set high for the protection of native burials as well as historic sites.
The city, the council and the state Historic Preservation Division should collaborate on alerting government agencies and community groups and individuals who want a voice in the process.
The discussions should begin as soon as possible, and it should include those with concerns about other historic artifacts and buildings.
This will become an increasingly heated issue as construction approaches the central urban core. But simply resorting to crisis management is not an option for a project of this magnitude. These are anticipated conflicts that could, and should, be headed off at the pass.
