Monday — Day 2 of the annual Merrie Monarch Festival in Hilo — came and went without construction crews attempting to reach the Thirty Meter Telescope site on Mauna Kea, according to opponents who have continued to maintain a constant presence on the mountain they consider sacred.
When TMT plans to resume work on the $1.4 billion project remains unclear.
“I’m told TMT is assessing its work schedule on a day-to-day basis,” Ross Wilson, a spokesman for TMT, wrote in an email.
Wilson did not respond to questions about why crews took Monday off, or elaborate on TMT’s decision to assess things day-by-day. Instead, he responded with a link to an article published Monday by CBC News that Canada finally committed its share of funds — $243.5 million through 10 years — to help build the telescope.
On social media sites, some project opponents have questioned whether the halt in construction was meant to avoid negative publicity during Merrie Monarch week, which draws thousands of visitors to Hilo each year.
While he was not aware of TMT’s upcoming construction schedule, Dan Meisenzahl, a spokesman for the University of Hawaii, which operates the mountain’s astronomy precinct, said the current situation is fluid and sensitive. Having Merrie Monarch, the premiere hula competition in town, adds a “new wrinkle into the equation,” he said.
On Thursday, the situation on Mauna Kea escalated when officers with the Hawaii Police Department and state Department of Land and Natural Resources arrested a combined 31 individuals near the Mauna Kea visitor center and at the TMT construction site, located at 13,150 feet above sea level. No work occurred, and no arrests were made the following day, Good Friday, a holiday for state officials.
During a press conference Friday in Honolulu, Peter Apo, a trustee for the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, called on Gov. David Ige and the University of Hawaii to adopt a 30-day moratorium on construction in order to work out a solution everyone, Native Hawaiians and the scientific community, can live with.
Hawaiian activist Walter Ritte, who appeared with Apo during the conference, told the Tribune-Herald on Monday that the ongoing protest is much bigger than stopping TMT from being built.
Rather, it’s about addressing issues that have been brewing in the Hawaiian community for decades — a movement that, Ritte said, gained momentum last year during a series of statewide meetings in which the U.S. Department of the Interior accepted public feedback about whether, or how, it should proceed with an administrative rule-making process to re-establish a government-to-government relationship with Native Hawaiians.
“This is part of that whole idea that it’s time to correct the wrongs against the Hawaiians,” he said.
Ritte added he was shocked at the decision to begin arresting protesters last week, and that he expects daily turnouts on the mountain and at rallies elsewhere to grow.
“It’s just beginning, actually,” he said. “It’s going to get bigger.”
Apo could not be reached for comment Monday.
In a statement Monday, Mayor Billy Kenoi said his office continues to promote peaceful and respectful dialogue between all parties. Peter Boylan, a spokesman for Kenoi, did not respond to a question about whether the mayor had requested a halt in construction.
Mike McCartney, Ige’s chief of staff, said Monday that the governor’s office is actively engaged in discussions with various stakeholders.
“We know how sacred Mauna Kea is and also how significant the mountain is for scientific research,” McCartney said. “The governor deeply appreciates the importance of this issue to all of Hawaii and understands the concerns being expressed by our community.”
McCartney added that the governor’s office is asking people to honor the process to allow productive discussions to continue and looks forward to peaceful dialogue in order to find common ground in the days to come.
The governor’s office did not respond to questions about the volume of calls and emails it has received related to the TMT project.
Among the numerous petitions and crowd-funding efforts started by project opponents is one that urges Ige to halt construction and stop the arrests. As of Monday afternoon, four days after being launched, more than 12,000 people had signed the petition.
Additional protests and sign-waving events reportedly have been hosted around the state, including on Kauai, Maui and Molokai, as well as on the mainland, including in California and Las Vegas.
Email Chris D’Angelo at cdangelo@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
