By Ken Sakamoto, Star-Bulletin
Marie Beltran and her granddaughter, Princess Cherry,
live on the roadside across from Mokuleia Beach Park. Police,
sheriffs and state workers cleared families' belongings from
the shoulder of Farrington Highway this morning.

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Mokuleia squatters evicted

Citing safety concerns and neighbors' complaints,
sheriffs and police remove belongings of families
camped beside Mokuleia Beach Park

Linda Aragon and Pat Omandam
Star-Bulletin

Law enforcement officers towed vehicles, threw away furniture and cleared pallets from the roadside fronting Mokuleia Beach Park this morning.

State sheriffs and Honolulu police were joined by dozens of state workers in their effort to remove the belongings of families who had been living on the shoulder of Farrington Highway.

"They looked like SWAT teams," said Bernie Keliikuli, who along with other campers moved to the park once the cleanup began.

Gary Frietas, also known as Kali, 49, who has lived at Mokuleia for the past two years, added, "We're probably the only race that cannot control their own land."

There were no arrests during today's cleanup.

Witnesses said around 6:10 a.m., officers blocked access along the secluded North Shore highway while work crews removed five abandoned vehicles, dozens of wooden pallets, furniture, a tent and other items from the roadside.

Workers also bulldozed gardens planted by the squatters, with the cleanup completed around 7:30 a.m. All the material removed was loaded onto dump trucks and hauled away, said Marilyn Kali, Department of Transportation spokeswoman.

"We cleared everything that was in the highway right-of-way," said Kali, who added campers had removed most of their belongings before cleanup crews arrived and had been give ample time to clear the area.

Transportation Director Kazu Hayashida said the state took action because of safety reasons for those camping along the highway as well as those who use the highway.

"The campers' tents and parked cars were located very close to a busy roadway," Hayashida said.

The state on July 15 issued notices to campers to relocate either to the beach park across the street or in temporary housing arranged through the Hawaii Housing Authority. The housing authority along with several other state and private agencies has provided information on housing, medical, employment and social services to the 19 adults and 20 children who had been living for several months in the right-of-way along Farrington Highway adjacent to the Dillingham Air Field.

Their last visit with the campers was on July 29.

The North Shore Neighborhood Board and surrounding community associations had complained to the state about the campers. State law prohibits erecting or storing any objects within the right-of-way of any state highway.

Still, those who camp at Mokuleia say they have a right to be there. Marie Beltran, who recently got the Intermediate Court of Appeals to overturn an earlier conviction of obstructing government operations, said the campers were not harassing anyone and that they have tried to work with the community to address concerns.

Beltran, 34, and Frietas say agree the state is toying with them on their right to live off the land.

"It's just like a chess game, but they, the state, keep changing all the rules," Freitas said.