LEGISLATURE UPDATE
Waiahole Ditch purchase
moves forward in SenateBut some folks claim the
By Pat Omandam
state purchase will benefit
landowners, not farmers
Star-BulletinWaiahole farmer John Reppun has a lot of respect for Mililani farmers who depend on irrigation water from Waiahole Ditch for their livelihoods. Reppun, however, doesn't believe the state should pay $10.2 million to buy the ditch system, because the state, by law, has sole control to regulate the 27 million gallons of water that flow through it each day.
"I would offer them $1.50. Who else are they going to sell it to?" Reppun said.
Arguments from Reppun and others against the ditch purchase failed to sway two key Senate committees yesterday.
The committees on Economic Development, and on Water, Land and Hawaiian Affairs, forwarded a Senate bill that authorizes the state to spend $10.2 million in reimbursable general obligation bonds to buy the Waiahole system. It would take about 20 years to pay off the bonds.
Gov. Ben Cayetano in late January announced the state's plan to buy the 72-year-old, 25.3-mile ditch. Some of those testifying justified the purchase by saying it would cost between $60 million to $80 million to build the ditch today.
An amended version of Senate Bill 3027 now goes before the Ways and Means committee, headed by Carol Fukunaga (D, Ala Moana) and Rosalyn H. Baker (D, West Maui-Lanai). As committee members yesterday, both women supported the bill, although voting with reservations.
Bert Hatton, executive director of the Agribusiness Development Corp., said the purchase of the ditch -- owned by Waiahole Irrigation Co., a subsidiary of Amfac/JMB Hawaii -- would ensure Leeward farmers continue to receive ditch water.
He called it is a good financial investment for the state that carries out constitutional mandates to protect agricultural lands and promote diversified agriculture.
While groups such as the statewide farm bureaus, the Land Use Research Foundation of Hawaii and the Honolulu Board of Water Supply support the purchase, others say spending millions of dollars is a waste of taxpayer money.
Attorney Paul Achitoff of the Earthjustice Legal Defense Fund, which represents the Waiahole community, said state purchase of the ditch will benefit landowners and not Leeward farmers. For example, Achitoff contends, Campbell Estate has permits to pump more groundwater for agricultural use on its Kunia lands, but prefers ditch water so it can hoard its underground water for future development.
"Why should Hawaii taxpayers spend $10 million so that Campbell Estate, Dole/Castle & Cooke, and others do not have to use the water under their own lands to supply the farmers who are making a profit for them?" Achitoff said.
Stephen T. Kubota of the Ahupua'a Action Alliance likened the state purchase to a private corporate bailout.
John T. Harrison, director of the University of Hawaii Environmental Center, said delay of a purchase "makes sound financial sense," given the state's financial constraints.
State officials estimate it will cost $550,000 a year to operate the system, which now needs about $1.2 million in repairs.
Expenses to the state
Purchase price of the ditch: $10.2 million
At-risk moms could lose
prenatal-care advocatesBudget cuts threaten 15 programs
By Helen Altonn
aiding newborns' chances
Star-BulletinWhen Kahili Kekahuna was pregnant at age 15, she was into drugs with her boyfriend and "didn't want to listen to nobody." She never saw a doctor until she had a miscarriage.
"I thought I knew everything," she said.
Now 26, Kekahuna and her boyfriend Curtis are married and have four daughters, ages 1 to 8. They went to a substance abuse program and have been off drugs for three years.
Kekahuna credits the Waianae Coast Comprehensive Health Center for changing their lives.
The center has one of 15 maternity programs serving low-income pregnant women and teens that are threatened because of a $1.5 million budget cut by the state Health Department.
Group leaders and concerned officials and legislators met yesterday to stress the costly ramifications of the budget cuts in low birth weight, premature births and birth defects.
Costs for one child born with low weight and defects can mount to $500,000 in a neonatal intensive care unit, said Rose Schilt, executive director of Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies. Costs of caring for developmentally disabled and mentally ill children also run into many millions, she added.
She said Hawaii in eight years has made significant progress in reducing infant deaths and improving prenatal care and health of newborns. But the cuts would directly and indirectly affect about 5,400 high-risk and other pregnant women, Schilt said.
"What's going to happen to our kids -- our teen-agers?" asked Kekahuna.
Kekahuna said she and her husband were living on the beach and using drugs. She had six miscarriages.
They decided to seek help when Child Protective Services took their third daughter from them, she said.
"Going to treatment, I learned before you can love our children or anyone else, you have to love yourself," she said. "It took time but I do now."
Kekahuna has just graduated from a home nurses' aid course and hopes to become a registered nurse. Her husband is a drywall construction worker. They have bought a house.
"If they schedule one appointment and they're a no-show, they're on our bad-girl list and we track them down," said Pat Raley, Waianae nurse practitioner.
Bills are pending in the House and Senate to provide about $2.2 million in the next fiscal year for services for high-risk pregnant women and babies.
Appealing to his colleagues and Gov. Ben Cayetano to reconsider the cuts, House Human Services Chairman Dennis Arakaki said, "It's a pretty sad day here ... when we have to deal with budget cuts by picking on the most vulnerable population."
BabySAFE programs, assisting substance-using pregnant women, are the only maternal programs spared from cuts.
Hit by cuts
Agencies affected by the Health Department cut are:
A calendar of tomorrow's hearings -- to be held at the state Capitol, 415 S. Beretania St., unless noted. Hearings marked with an asterisk will be aired live on Oceanic Channel 52 and TCI Cable 13: CAPITOL ROUNDUP
HOUSE
SENATE
