Ask The Mayor: Why Doesn’t Oʻahu Coffee Need to Be Treated?

Photo courtesy Slow Food Maui.

The mayor answers questions from the public in this series.

By Mayor Alan Arakawa

Q:  What are you going to do about the permit that allows coffee from Oʻahu that can be contaminated with the berry borer beetle brought untreated to Maui? Why does Kona and the rest of the Big Island have to treat, but not Oʻahu?

A: You will be glad to learn that the Hawaiʻi Board of Agriculture voted recently to place coffee grown on all areas of Oʻahu under the same quarantine restrictions as were issued earlier for the Waialua area on Oʻahu and Hawaiʻi Island to prevent the spread of the coffee berry borer to other coffee-growing islands. To date, CBB has not been detected on Maui, Molokaʻi, Lanaʻi or Kauaai. It will be vital to keep this destructive pest from spreading.

Want to Ask the Mayor?

Submit your questions about County of Maui programs, services, operations or policies to Mayor Alan Arakawa via email at AskTheMayor@mauicounty.gov, by phone at 270-7855 or by mail to 200 S. High St., 9th Floor, Wailuku, HI 96793. Questions submitted will be considered for inclusion in the Ask the Mayor column.