STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2977

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    H.B. No. 2373

       H.D. 1

Honorable Colleen Hanabusa

President of the Senate

Twenty-Fourth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2008

State of Hawaii

Madam:

     Your Committee on Agriculture and Hawaiian Affairs, to which was referred H.B. No. 2373, H.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT MAKING AN APPROPRIATION FOR MOOKINI HEIAU,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this measure is to appropriate funds to install a full sprinkler system for the grassy area of the Mo‘okini Heiau and the nearby Kamehameha birth site.

     Testimony in support of this measure was submitted by the Office of Hawaiian Affairs and Mo‘okini Luakini, Inc., by Leimomi Mo‘okini Lum, who is the Kahuna Nui of the Mo‘okini Heiau.  The Department of Land and Natural Resources submitted testimony in opposition to this measure citing budgetary implications.

     Your Committee finds that the 1,500 year-old Mo‘okini Heiau, located in the north Kohala area of the island of Hawaii, was once used by kings to pray and offer human sacrifices and is Hawaii's oldest, largest, and most sacred religious site and also a national historic landmark.  The massive three-story stone temple, dedicated to Ku, the Hawaiian god of war, was erected in A.D. 480.  Each stone is said to have been passed hand-to-hand from Pololu Valley, fourteen miles away, by 18,000 men who worked from sunset to sunrise.  King Kamehameha is said to have been born nearby in 1758 and sought spiritual guidance at Mo‘okini Heiau before embarking on his campaign to unite Hawaii.

     Your Committee further finds that the installation of a full sprinkler system would provide healthy groundcover around Mo‘okini Heiau and the nearby Kamehameha birth site.  This groundcover would not only provide an area for groups to meet, but would also help control erosion problems caused by wind and rain, which could have a potential damaging effect to the sites.

     Your Committee further notes that it has recommended the appropriation of $180,000 for the purpose of this measure in the companion Senate measure which is S.B. No. 3135.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Agriculture and Hawaiian Affairs that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 2373, H.D. 1, and recommends that it pass Second Reading and be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Agriculture and Hawaiian Affairs,

____________________________

JILL TOKUDA, Chair