Wayson Ioane was tired of people driving into the area near Lehia Beach Park at the end of Kalanianaole Avenue to take drugs.
So he and several others who live down the Kapoho Coast Road put up a makeshift roadblock Friday at the start of the unpaved path, near the former Puumaile Hospital, to keep them out.
“I got to beat them, and don’t let them beat me,” Ioane said Saturday.
“I’m going to fight these guys until pau.”
The checkpoint, which he said would be up for the holiday weekend, doesn’t block access to the ocean or the undeveloped park.
Ioane said all others are welcome, but the barrier is needed since the gate at the end of Kalanianaole Avenue is broken or no longer locks, and it’s attracting unwanted guests.
“If you close the front gate, that’s half our problem already,” he said.
The land belongs to the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands but Ioane said the gate is the county’s responsibility. (A call to county Managing Director Wil Okabe late Saturday afternoon wasn’t returned by deadline.)
Ioane said he lives in a village with about 20 families down the coast near the Puna district boundary. He said they have a right-of-entry permit with DHHL.
Ioane said they notified police of what they were doing, and have spoken with county officials about the issue.
Email Tom Callis at tcallis@hawaiitribune-herald.com.