The petition signed by more than 14,000 people comes amid a fierce and anguished debate over when travelers should return.
Pa'ele Kiakona, a restaurant bartender from West Maui, walks at the Hawaii State Capitol in Honolulu on Tuesday, Oct. 3, 2023 HONOLULU — Residents from fire-stricken Lahaina on Tuesday delivered a petition asking Hawaii Gov. Josh Green to delay plans to reopen a portion of West Maui to tourism starting this weekend, saying the grieving community is not ready to welcome back visitors.
“We are not mentally nor emotionally ready to welcome and serve our visitors. Not yet,” restaurant bartender Pa‘ele Kiakona said at a news conference before several dozen people delivered the petition. “Our grief is still fresh and our losses too profound.” Several dozen residents, dressed in red T-shirts, went to Green’s koa-wood paneled executive chambers to deliver the signatures in person. Green was not in his office, so his director of constituent services, Bonnelley Pa’uulu, accepted the box on his behalf.
Maui, which is famous around the world for its beaches and waterfalls, is among the most tourism-dependent islands in Hawaii. Maui Mayor Richard Bissen last week narrowed the geographic scope of this plan, saying that only the northernmost section of West Maui — a 3-mile stretch including the Ritz-Carlton Kapalua — would resume taking tourists. The rest of the region, where most of Lahaina’s evacuees are staying, would reopen at a later, unspecified date.
“But what I say to them is think of your neighbor or think of the business next door to you,” Green said. “Or think of the impact of having only, say, 40% of the travelers that we normally have to Maui."
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Lahaina residents deliver petition asking Hawaii governor to delay tourism reopeningResidents from fire-stricken Lahaina are petitioning Hawaii's governor to delay his plans to reopen a portion of West Maui to tourism starting this weekend.
Baca lebih lajut »
Lahaina residents deliver petition asking Hawaii governor to delay tourism reopeningResidents from fire-stricken Lahaina are petitioning Hawaii's governor to delay his plans to reopen a portion of West Maui to tourism starting this weekend
Baca lebih lajut »
Lahaina residents deliver petition asking Hawaii governor to delay tourism reopeningResidents from fire-stricken Lahaina are petitioning Hawaii's governor to delay his plans to reopen a portion of West Maui to tourism starting this weekend
Baca lebih lajut »
Lahaina residents deliver petition asking Hawaii governor to delay tourism reopeningResidents from fire-stricken Lahaina are petitioning Hawaii's governor to delay his plans to reopen a portion of West Maui to tourism starting this weekend.
Baca lebih lajut »
Lahaina residents deliver petition asking Hawaii governor to delay tourism reopeningResidents from fire-stricken Lahaina are petitioning Hawaii's governor to delay his plans to reopen a portion of West Maui to tourism starting this weekend.
Baca lebih lajut »
Lahaina residents deliver petition asking Hawaii governor to delay tourism reopeningResidents from fire-stricken Lahaina are petitioning Hawaii's governor to delay his plans to reopen a portion of West Maui to tourism starting this weekend.
Baca lebih lajut »