Demonstration Planned as Convoy Rescheduled for Telescope Construction

Image courtesy Project Aloha ʻĀina.

By Wendy Osher

For the second time in as many months, individuals opposed to ongoing construction of the Daniel K Inouye Solar Telescope atop Haleakalā will hold a “Kākoʻo Haleakalā” demonstration on Maui to stop transport of equipment to the summit.

The announcement comes on the heels of a cancelled convoy in June amid ongoing issues surrounding development atop the summit areas of some of Hawaiʻi’s highest mountains.

The slow moving convoy is scheduled to depart from the Central Maui Baseyard on Thursday night, July 30, as crews attempt to transport extremely wide loads to the Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope near the volcano’s summit. As a precaution, and due to the narrow roads, Crater Road (Rt. 378) and Haleakalā National Park’s summit road will close to visitor traffic overnight.

In conjunction with the planned convoy, demonstrators have planned a gathering at the intersection of the Mokulele Highway and Nakiʻi Road near the entrance of the Central Maui Baseyard.  The gathering to stand in “Kapu Aloha and Aloha ʻĀina,” is scheduled to run from 8 p.m. Thursday, July 30, 2015 to 2 a.m., Friday, July 31, 2015.

In an announcement, opponents to the project said they are still awaiting judgement on a lawsuit currently in the Hawaiʻi State Supreme Court. The demonstration will include oli (chant), mele (song) and pule (prayer), as the group “stands in protection of Haleakalā.”