Liliha Library aims
to reopen by November

Question: The Liliha Library has been closed for months and months and months. The library machine says it may reopen in November, maybe. What kind of scandal is this that the library can be closed a year for what originally was supposed to be a three-month renovation? There is something vastly wrong here.

Answer: Something was very wrong, and officials say it was the library's structure.

Liliha Library, which closed on Jan. 5 for roof repair and renovations, originally was to reopen on April 17. But wet weather, the concrete workers' strike early this year, and "unanticipated renovation problems" plagued the project, forcing it to be redesigned.

It now appears "very likely" that the library will reopen in November, with "every effort" being made to have it open by late October, according to Keith Fujio, director of the Hawaii State Public Library System's Administrative Services Branch.

The project involved completely removing an existing two-inch concrete topping and half-inch sand and waterproofing membrane. But after the topping was removed, a large number of hairline cracks, exposed and corroded beam "stirrups" and other structural defects were uncovered, Fujio said.

Faced with that, the work had to be redesigned, involving another roof-topping procedure and waterproof coating, he said.

The project also calls for resealing exterior walls and repairing the interior acoustic sprayed-on ceiling and paint, as well as replacing existing water-damaged fixtures.

The total cost of the project is $510,735, Fujio said, "with a small increase due to redesign costs, not from the delays."

Workers began applying the coating to the roof last week and interior repairs were to start this week, Fujio said.

The contractor is Oceanic Companies Inc.

Q: I reported a situation in which I believed a company was ripping off the state and now I have been accused of child abuse. Who can I call to report retaliation for being a whistleblower?

A: Call 586-9092, which is the state Department of Labor and Industrial Relations' Occupational Safety and Health hot line.

It will decide whether your complaint falls under its jurisdiction.

Hawaii has a Whistleblower Protection Act (Hawaii Revised Statutes, 378-62 to 378-65), which gives protection to an employee who reports or is about to report a violation or suspected violation of a law, rule, ordinance, regulation, or government contract.

Specifically, the law says, "An employer shall not discharge, threaten, or otherwise discriminate against an employee regarding the employee's compensation, terms, conditions, location or privileges of employment" for blowing the whistle on a violation or a suspected violation.

A violation may result in a fine of $500 to $10,000 per violation, as well as any other award or settlement a plaintiff might receive in court. Victims may file a lawsuit for injunctive relief or actual damages, or both, within two years of the alleged retaliation.

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