[ OUR OPINION ]
DESPITE a judge's refusal to halt a Holland America cruise ship's stop at Molokai, a group of residents has vowed to press on with its lawsuit alleging potential damage to the marine environment. The group cannot prove that harm will occur. However, in the absence of state laws governing cruise ships, the group has little assurance that Hawaiian waters will be spared damage. As the cruise industry prepares for more activity in Hawaii, state environmental protections are needed. State needs rules
for cruise ships
THE ISSUE A judge has refused to stop cruise ships from visiting Molokai.
The Molokai group contends that the ships will harm coral reefs. John Hansen, president of the North West Cruise Ship Association, says the ships do not anchor at or near the reefs. Hansen also has said members of the association will abide by a "memorandum of understanding," signed in October by then-Gov. Ben Cayetano and the association, covering ocean pollution and air emissions.
Environmentalists simply don't trust cruise lines to honor the memorandum. Jeff Mikulina, director of the Sierra Club's Hawaii chapter, says many of the world's cruise ship companies are "felons who have repeatedly violated state, federal and international pollution laws." He mocked the memo as "a wink and a handshake" because it lacks sanctions.
Prompted by public concern about cruise-ship discharges, Alaska legislators went into special session in June 2001 to enact a landmark law providing oversight of that state's vibrant cruise ship industry. The law assessed $1 per passenger to pay for the program and authorized the state to negotiate regulations with the industry in the very areas covered in the Cayetano memorandum.
In December, a panel of independent scientists reported that treatment systems installed to comply with the Alaska law had filtered out much of the pollution and that the law now effectively protects the marine environment. Hansen agreed, telling the Anchorage Daily News, "From what I see so far, this panel's report affirms that the programs we have in place are the right way to go."
Bills similar to the Alaska statute were introduced in the Hawaii Legislature a year ago but were blocked by Sen. Cal Kawamoto and Rep. Joe Souki, chairmen of the Legislature's transportation committees. Having learned more from the Alaska experience, legislators should enact such a bill in the current session. Growth in Hawaii's cruise industry is welcome, but it's only prudent to take steps to protect the unique environment that attracts the ships' passengers in the first place.
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FISCAL responsibility demands balancing the state budget and curtailing wasteful government costs, but cuts should be made judiciously so as not to impair services to those who most need them. The state's health and budget directors and Governor Lingle should reconsider their decisions to reclaim appropriations for community health centers and to reduce funds for child services, housing and welfare assistance. Budget cuts require
prudent attention
THE ISSUE Health-care centers and programs for the needy are not spared in the attempt to balance the state budget.
Ten community health centers learned this week that $1.6 million the state Legislature appropriated last year to provide medical services for poor and uninsured residents would not be coming. In scraping for every dollar to balance the budget, the administration saw that the funds, budgeted for fiscal 2002-2003, had yet to be spent and decided they could be reclaimed. However, what looked on the books to be available cash was in reality money being held until contracts with the Health Department could be worked out. The centers, which had been delivering services in anticipation of covering their expenses when the contracts were complete, are now left holding the bag.
The centers serve the most vulnerable of Hawaii's residents -- tens of thousands with incomes below the poverty level, the homeless, older citizens and immigrants who would not get health care otherwise. Without the money, the centers will not be able to continue to help them; several already have run out of money and others say they will not be able to carry on after a few months.
It may be that the new administration, still grappling with the labyrinthine character of state finances, was unaware of the situation. If so, officials should restore the funds. It is unfair for the state to take back what it had committed because of the contract delays.
Meanwhile, in the attempt to bring spending in line with lean revenues, Lingle has ordered state agencies to trim spending by 5 percent. The problem with across-the-board decreases is that they put all government services on par with one another, with little consideration of the results.
A $3.3 million cut in the Department of Human Services will again hurt the needy. Budget Director Georgina Kawamura contends that the trims indicate "there was some fat" in the department's budget, but it appears the reductions will affect welfare and services to children. The administration should consider cuts in other areas before burdening those who most need help.
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Published by Oahu Publications Inc., a subsidiary of Black Press.Don Kendall, Publisher
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