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.
The petition signed by 3,517 people from West Maui zip codes comes amid a fierce and anguished debate over when travellers should return to the region home to the historic town of Lahaina that was destroyed in the deadliest US wildfire in more than a century.Â
At least 98 people died in the August 8 blaze and more than a dozen are missing. The first phase of the plan to reopen Maui to tourists begins Sunday, the two-month anniversary of the disaster.
Though many residents say they are not ready, others say they need tourism so they can work in hotels and restaurants to earn a living.
바카라We are not mentally nor emotionally ready to welcome and serve our visitors. Not yet,바카라 restaurant bartender Paele Kiakona said at a news conference before several dozen people delivered the petition. 바카라Our grief is still fresh and our losses too profound.바카라
Tamara Paltin, who represents Lahaina on the Maui County Council, said two months may seem like a long time, but she noted Lahaina residents didn't have reliable cellphone service or internet for the first month after the fire and have been coping with uncertain housing. She said many people, including herself, can't sleep through the night.
Paltin urged the governor to decide on when to reopen after consulting residents in an 바카라open and transparent way.바카라
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. Altogether, 14,000 people signed the petition as of midday Tuesday.
Green told the Hawaii News Now interview programme 바카라Spotlight Now바카라 shortly afterward that he was 바카라utterly sympathetic바카라 to people's suffering. But he said more than 8,000 people have lost their jobs due to the fire and getting people back to work was part of recovering.
바카라It's my job as governor to support them, to be thoughtful about all people and to make sure Maui survives, because people will otherwise go bankrupt and have to leave the island, have to move out of Maui,바카라 he said. 바카라Local people 바카라 these are middle-class people that lived in Lahaina 바카라 will have to leave if they don't have jobs.바카라
Maui, which is famous around the world for its beaches and waterfalls, is among the most tourism-dependent islands in Hawaii.
The number of visitors plummeted 70 per cent in the weeks after the fire when Green and tourism officials discouraged 바카라non-essential travel바카라 to the island. University of Hawaii economists estimate unemployment will top 10 per cent on Maui, compared to 2.5 per cent in July. The resulting economic downturn is expected to depress state tax revenues.
A few weeks after the fire, the tourism industry began urging travellers to respectfully visit parts of Maui unaffected by the blaze, like Wailea and Makena. Then last month Green announced that West Maui 바카라 a long expanse of coastline encompassing Lahaina and hotels and condos to its north 바카라 would reopen to tourists on October 8.
Maui Mayor Richard Bissen last week narrowed the geographic scope of this plan, saying that only the northernmost section of West Maui 바카라 a 3-mile (5-kilometre) stretch including the Ritz-Carlton Kapalua 바카라 would resume taking tourists. The rest of the region, where most of Lahaina's evacuees are staying, would reopen at a later, unspecified date.
The first phase to be reopened under the mayor's plan 바카라 from Kapalua to the Kahana Villa 바카라 is 7 to 10 miles (11 to 16 kilometres) and a 15- to 20-minute drive north of the area that burned. Bissen said second and third phases, both covering zones closer to the burned parts of Lahaina, would reopen after officials assess earlier phases.
Green said only one or two hotels would reopen on Sunday, calling it a 바카라gentle start.바카라
Restaurant bartender Kiakona said he's among those not ready to go back to work. He said he doesn't want to constantly be asked if he lost his home and to have 바카라somebody consistently reminding you of the disaster that you just went through.바카라
Green said people who aren't ready to go back to work won't need to. He said they would continue to receive benefits and housing.
바카라But what I say to them is think of your neighbour or think of the business next door to you,바카라 Green said. 바카라Or think of the impact of having only, say, 40 per cent of the travellers that we normally have to Maui."
The governor said a lack of tourism would make it harder for the state to rebuild the elementary school that burned in the fire and provide residents with healthcare coverage.
Charles Nahale, a musician who lost all his gigs singing and playing the ukulele and guitar for tourists, recounted recently seeing tourists at a restaurant a few miles from the burn zone. They appeared oblivious and unsympathetic to those around them, he said.
바카라This is not a normal tourist destination like it was prior to the fire," he said by telephone from Lahaina. 바카라You shouldn't be there expecting people to serve you your mai tais and your food.바카라
Nahale said grieving was more critical to him than getting back to work.
바카라What is more important to me is that these thousands, including me, have the time to heal,바카라 he said. 바카라What's more important to me is that we have the time to be normal again.바카라Â
