Hawaii governor says he’ll prevent land grabs by developers in fire aftermath
Hawaii Gov. Josh Green spoke out about preventing current and future land grabs following the devastation of the Maui fires — especially in the town of Lahaina — as residents expressed concerns that wealthy investors would buy up the devastated land.
“My intention from start to finish is to make sure that no one is victimized from a land grab,” Green said at a news conference on Wednesday night, per The Associated Press. “People are right now traumatized. Please do not approach them with an offer to buy their land. Do not approach their families saying they’ll be much better off if they make a deal. Because we’re not going to allow it.”
Lahaina resident Richy Palalay told AP that many are uncertain about what their future holds because it may be too expensive to rebuild.
Many residents weren’t able to afford a house or even a condo of their own because of the high cost of living on the island, reported AP early this week. A moderate home has a median price of $1.2 million and the median condo price is still out of reach for many at $850,000. Palalay paid $1,000 to rent one room in a four-bedroom house that he shared with roommates.
Lahaina means a lot to Palalay and he intends to stick it out, regardless of what happens.
“I don’t have any money to help rebuild. I’ll put on a construction hat and help get this ship going, I’m not going to leave this place,” he told AP. “Where am I going to go?”
The governor has also said in interviews, per CNBC, that the state is considering buying the burned land in order “to protect it for our local people so it’s not stolen by people on the mainland.”
False videos have been circling on Instagram, per PolitiFact, that falsely shorten clips of the governor saying he wants to buy the land to create a “smart city.”
With federal funding authorized by Biden, more help is on the way, per a White House press release. But rebuilding is expected to take years and billions of dollars.
Green said in a Wednesday statement that he was grateful for the “outpouring of support and aloha that Maui has received” at this time from all over the nation.
“We want Lahaina to be a part of Hawaii forever,” Green said, per AP. “We don’t want it to be another example of people being priced out of paradise.”
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