Malama Aina, Lahaina
What if this is a fucked up do-over?
Mālama ʻĀina
As Maui realtor Eric West banged on about Mayor Richard Bissen’s recent proposal to ban short-term vacation rentals, un-ironically, I began again to rethink the motives behind the Aug. 8, 2023 wildfires.
We still don’t know if the fires were purposely set, or purely an accident, followed by a series of hapless missteps by a mostly incompetent local government bloated on aloha (tourism).
But if the wildfires precipitated the launch to rectify the rampant overdevelopment found in any tourist destination, that’s a hell of an awful way to Mālama ʻĀina (care for the land), after the damage has been done.
That means THE POWERS THAT BE (TPTB) purposely caused the suffering and countless deaths of innocents, just to clear the decks, start over, and put fixes in place to guard against things like building multi-million-dollar condos and mansions right on the water for only the top 10 percent of the elite upper class — here and abroad — to afford.
Even if the wildfires were the luck of the draw, that’s still a shitty way to go about righting wrongs.
What if the local government, right or wrong, is trying now to get rid of pricey real estate, add more affordable housing, put up building and height restrictions, and redefine what it means to be a paradise?
Living examples of balance between ʻāina and tourism exist in other, more eco-friendly tropical islands. There, locals control what is and isn’t allowed, up to and including development, preservation with accommodations, and environmental sustainability.
This should’ve happened in the Hawaiian islands long before the haole declared paradise the 50th state (purely for military purposes).
In hindsight, I’m already re-examining my own colonialist role in the further degradation of Hawaii…the hotels and resorts I stayed at and promoted for tourism publications, golf courses I played with my husband, swimming pools and hot tubs I didn’t really need…
Do you know how much water is diverted from local small farms and communities for one golf course? how much of the land is dug up, razed, and poisoned for a new housing development only the rich can afford? how much of all precious resources are devoted to expensive condos and houses that sit empty for half the year? how many visitors look at Hawaii as just a profit margin than a real home for a multitude of diverse nationalities?
If I hear one more visitor threaten to stay…
This is what happens when we choose to live without balance, or consideration of others…of the living land around us.
I find it rich that people who live/profit off that overdeveloped land are crying foul when the local government may just be trying to preserve it for everyone, not just a precious few…
Maybe they should’ve thought of that before they cashed their checks…