DLNR got it wrong
The state Department of Land and Natural Resources has cited at least 10 island residents for loitering near MacKenzie State Recreation Area, which is in the closed area of Highway 137. DLNR wants us to think these citations are about safety, but they are not.
There has been no active lava flow near MacKenzie since about May 26. There is no need for gas masks in this region. The biggest safety risk is the new ocean entry crumbling, which is akin to the cliffs crumbling at MacKenzie on any day.
It is wrong to stop local residents from walking or biking past the road block into the MacKenzie area to see what this eruption did to our environment. Going to MacKenzie to see the dead zone and new coastline created by the now inactive flow is like going to the Pahoa Transfer Station to see the 2014 lava flow that broke through its perimeter fence. In 2014, officials understood it is educational to safely view lava flows and set up a formal viewing schedule for the Pahoa Transfer Station.
But today, we are told locals who walk or bike around the unmanned roadblock to view the MacKenzie flow might be subject to the Gov. David Ige proclamation that can impose up to a $5,000 fine and up to a year in jail.
I agree DLNR should cite reckless individuals who put our first responders at risk. But for DLNR to cite locals who are safely trying to understand what Pele is doing is just heavy-handed enforcement.
The Highway 130 roadblock ensures only local residents can reach lower Puna. DLNR should open MacKenzie to residents while there is no lava flow danger in this area.
But DLNR needs to consider how their citations are affecting our ability to understand what it means to live with an active lower East Rift Zone eruption.
Marilyn Johnson
Pahoa
‘Help the people’
There are two sides to the government’s revenue equation: taxes/fees (input), and on the other side of the equal sign, expenditures (cost of government).
You don’t hear much about politicians’ reducing expenditures. After all, it’s easier just to raise taxes to pay for government, especially when it’s someone else’s money.
If politicians really have to increase the general excise tax, why not eliminate the GET on food and medicine at the same time?
Help the people. Isn’t that what government’s all about?
Fred Fogel
Volcano
