Emergency Rule Put Into Action For Mauna Kea
Hawaii officials have recently voted to put an emergency rule in place in order to restrict access to the mountain Mauna Kea. By a vote of 5-2, Hawaii’s Board of Land and Natural Resources have put in place something of a curfew. For 120 days, depending on the time of night, Mauna Kea’s access road is off limits to those not in a moving vehicle. The rule was put in place due to protestors slowing down construction. There were one hundred testimonies that helped the board come to this conclusion, in a meeting lasting eight hours.
What’s Going On and Why is There Protesting?
Construction had begun on Mauna Kea so as to create the Thirty Meter Telescope, which is a $1.4 billion undertaking. This telescope had been in the works for months, and as such protesters had been protesting its creation for months. Those most opposed to the telescope were Native Hawaiians, as Mauna Kea is considered a sacred mountain. And so protests continued even as construction had begun, and will continue despite the curfew – the leaders of the protests fully expect that this will not be a hinderance to them, and that they can remain vigil on the mountain. Some believe that the rule steps on Native Hawaiians’ rights to coming to the mountain for religious purposes, which could spark future discussions.
What Have the Protestors Done To Cause the New Rule?
It depends on who you ask. Some protest leaders have denied wrongdoing on the parts of the protestors, and some spokespeople insist that anything bad that is happening is due to a very small minority of protestors on Mauna Kea. But the board decided that enough was happening that a rule needed to be enforced. This is likely due to logs kept by the University of Hawaii, the college responsible for the stewardship of Mauna Kea. Rangers and other staff members have been keeping logs of activity, and some of the activities alleged haven’t been too great. Some incidents aren’t particularly damning, like protestors making throat slashing gestures at workers. Others, though, went with more physical protests, putting boulders in the road to impede work. The worst behavior was a bomb threat allegedly made on Facebook. After reading the logs and hearing the testimonies, the board decided a temporary curfew was the most appropriate action to take.
