Wow. I really wasn’t aware how strongly the people from Maui and Kauai felt about the Superferry to be honest. Living on Oahu, I must have been just over-excited about the Superferry and at the same time insensitive to what others islanders thought about the ferry. So I would like to start with my apology to everyone on Maui and Kauai first of all. Please do forgive me if my previous articles were insensitive.

A large number of protestors showed up today at the Nawiliwili Harbor in Kauai, and the ferry could not even dock and had to return to Honolulu. In Maui, the Sierra Club, Maui Tomorrow, and the Kahului Harbor Coalition filed for the temporary restraining order, and the judge granted a temporary restraining order banning the Superferry from the Kahului Harbor for 10 days. People on Maui and Kauai have been concerned about the lack of the environmental assessment and potential pollution, traffic, and endangerment of the wild animals.

I am not sure why the Hawaii Superferry decided not to conduct the environmental assessment which is usually required for this kind of project and how they got away with it. I am yet to see their side of story, so I will hold my judgment at this time. However, there would not have been this kind of protest and discontinuation of their services if they had done everything they could to convince the locals. Frankly, they should have conducted the full environmental assessment without rushing to get the ferry operational as soon as possible regardless of the financial and economic consequences.

Sadly the passengers who were waiting for the ferry to go back to Honolulu got the worst end of the Kauai demonstration. The demonstrators were yelling and swearing at the waiting passengers, banging on their cars, throwing coconuts at the cars, and some demonstrator even attempted to deflate the tires. I do strongly support the cause of the organizations who protested against the Superferry, but they definitely could have taken a different approach toward the passengers. It is not the passengers’ fault that the Superferry did not conduct the environmental assessment. They succeeded in preventing the Superferry from docking in their harbor. What they should have done is to tell the passengers why they were protesting or to hand out fliers or brochures to persuade the passengers into boycotting the ferry in the future in support of their cause.

There is absolutely no excuse for the violent behaviors that they showed today, and I would refuse to support any groups pushing their ideas through violence no matter how important and righteous their causes are. The protestors need to understand that many of the passengers were the fellow islanders who live on Oahu, and I guarantee that most of the passengers did not even understand why they were protesting. Educating the public is definintely a better alternative to threatening them to get their support to the cause. Violence will only result in further violence and division of our great islands. Insteading of preaching aloha to the tourists who come to visit our islands, why don’t we practice aloha amost us first? Then we can get unimaginably wonderful things done together, like fixing the problems of the Hawaii Superferry…

Lastly, I condemn the Hawaii Superferry for their irresponsibility in protecting the beauty of our islands and sincerely hope they will take any necessary actions to convince the residents of Maui and Kauai and put this all behind as soon as possible.

• Judge Says No to Hawaii Superferry
• Hawaii Superferry Battle Rages On
• Super Down Sizing for the Hawaii Superferry

               
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