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U.S. NEWS Tuesday 16 July 2019

Protests spark over construction of telescope in Hawaii

MAUNA KEA, Hawaii (AP)
— Singing, chanting and
laying on the ground in the
road, hundreds of people
demonstrated on Monday
against the construction
of a giant telescope on a
mountaintop that some
Native Hawaiians consider
sacred.
The protests were the latest
salvo in a yearslong fight
that pits scientific discovery
against cultural preserva-
tion.
Scientists hope the mas-
sive telescope planned for
the site, a world-renowned
location for astronomy, will
help them peer back to the
time just after the Big Bang
and answer fundamental
questions about the uni-
verse. But some Native Ha-
waiians consider the land
holy, as a realm of gods Demonstrators are gather to block a road at the base of Hawaii's tallest mountain, Monday, July 15, 2019, in Mauna Kea, Hawaii, to
and a place of worship. protest the construction of a giant telescope on land that some Native Hawaiians consider sacred.
At about daybreak Mon- Associated Press
day, a group of kupuna,
or elders, sitting in chairs, an unlikely scenario. The project has been de- sume building. The compa- Hawaii.
tied themselves together "I think I know what will hap- layed by years of legal bat- ny is made up of a group of The telescope's primary mir-
with rope and blocked the pen, but what I hope will tles and demonstrations, universities in California and ror would measure 98 feet
road to the summit of Mau- happen is I hope that they drawing attention from the Canada, with partners from (30 meters) in diameter.
na Kea. Another group of would just turn around and likes of "Aquaman" actor China, India and Japan. It would be three times as
protesters lay prone on save our kupuna," she said, Jason Momoa, who has Ancient Hawaiians con- wide as the world's larg-
the ground, with their arms using the Hawaiian word Native Hawaiian ancestry sidered the location kapu, est existing visible-light
shackled under a grate in for elders. and has voiced opposition or forbidden, according telescope, with nine times
the road. A puuhonua, or place of to the telescope. to the University of Hawaii. more area.
The road was officially refuge set up at the base Scientists selected Mauna Only the highest-ranking Gov. David Ige has said un-
closed hours after it was of Mauna Kea, won't Kea in 2009 after a five- chiefs and priests were al- armed National Guard units
essentially blocked by pro- be swept by authorities, year, worldwide search for lowed to make the long would be used to transport
testers. The elders tied to- Kanuha and Perez told pro- the ideal site. trek to Mauna Kea's summit personnel and supplies and
gether were expecting to testers after consulting with Protests disrupted a ground- above the clouds. enforce road closures but
be arrested. police. Protesters planned breaking and Hawaiian Today, the university leas- would not be used in law
After two protest leaders to stay overnight. blessing ceremony at the es the land at the summit enforcement capacity dur-
spoke with police, they Groups of activists began site in 2014. After that, the from the state for existing ing what could be weeks of
addressed the crowd and gathering on Sunday, sing- demonstrations intensified. telescopes and observato- protests.
told them anyone who ing and praying at the Construction stopped in ries on the summit. A road In a news conference Sun-
didn't move would be ar- base of the mountain. They April 2015 after protesters built for telescope access day, Ige said that he "re-
rested. The group would declared the area, which is were arrested for block- decades ago is used by spected the right of people
move aside, but the elders well off the highway at the ing the work. A second at- thousands of tourists and to protest" at the telescope
were expected to remain, intersection of the moun- tempt to restart construc- locals each year, including site as long as protesters
protest leaders Kaho'okahi tain's access road, a place tion a few months later Native Hawaiians who go behave lawfully.
Kanuha and Andre Perez of refuge and safety. ended with more arrests there to pray. "As construction begins, our
said. "This is Hawaiian home- and crews pulling back. Supporters of the $1.4 bil- number one priority is keep-
Telescope opponent Jen- lands," said Kealoha Pi- Hawaii's Supreme Court lion telescope say the ing everyone safe," Ige
nifer Leina'ala Sleightholm sciotta, one of the protest has ruled the construction is cutting-edge instrument said, adding that he wants
said she hoped peaceful leaders. "We're clearly out legal, permits are in place, will not only make impor- to make sure construction
protests would lead to an of their way, we're not ob- and the state has given the tant scientific discoveries workers and truck drivers
end of the project while structing anything, every- company behind the tele- but bring educational and have unimpeded access
acknowledging that was one is in ceremony." scope a green light to re- economic opportunities to to the telescope site.q