Developer hires monitor
for archaeological expert

Pat Duarte will review all work
done by the suspended consultant

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Star-Bulletin staff

KAILUA-KONA >> Upscale Kona residential community developer Hokulia has hired a former Bishop Museum official to review the work of the developer's archaeology consultant, the company announced.

Pat Duarte, a former executive vice president and chief executive officer of Bishop Museum, will head a team that will oversee the actions of Scientific Consultant Services, Hokulia President John De Fries said.

Scientific Consultant Services was suspended from field work on the 1,550-acre development last month after Hokulia learned that a box containing human bones was in the consultant's possession.

That followed repeated assurances by Hokulia in court during a pending case that all bones found in Hawaiian burials had been reburied in accordance with Hawaiian cultural practices.

The court case accusing Hokulia of improper handling of cultural sites among other allegations, filed by several Hawaiians and non-Hawaiians, is recessed while the Kona Circuit Court handles other matters.