Difference between revisions of "Template:Nhsc-v1-388"

Latest revision as of 12:59, 4 June 2006

Amomg the factors that have reportedly impeded implementation of the Act objectives art the lack of money, the nature and location of the land and the interests and desires of native Hawaiians.

Nevertheless, progress has improved in recent years. During the past 10 years tho number of homesteaders increased by 1,015. Thus, approximately 33 percent of the present homesteaders have been placed on the land during the last 10 years of the 60-year history of the Act. Further, during the past 6 years the State has provided over $42 million of State funds for planning, design, construction, and financing of development improvements and during these same 6 years 669 homesteads have been placed on the land and 373 replacement homes have been built and financed. The records indicate that prior to 1973 there was very little funding outside of DHHL generated revenues from leases, royalties, and interests.

The original intent of the Act was for native Hawaiians to become subsistent or commercial farmers and ranchers. However, less than 2 years after the passage of the Act, Congress amended the Act to permit residential lots. Since then, the demand of native Hawaiians for residential lots has far exceeded the demand for agricultural or pastoral lots. For example, 87 percent of the applicants on the June 30, 1981 eligibility lists desire residential lots. However, 64 percent of the applicants for residential lots have applied for lots on the island of Oahu, but only about one percent of the available land suitable for residences is on Oahu.

DHHL developed a 10-year general plan in 1975, that established four major goals and objectives for the 10-year period ending in 1985. A comparison of the results achieved during the first 6 years with the objectives indicates that three of the goals are not being achieved: housing for new homesteaders, allocating agricultural lends, and reducing the acreage of lands used for income purpoees. (See Table 70.) During the 6-year period, over 1,000 homes were built, including the 669 homes in Table 70 and 373 replacement homes. Also, the 793 acres of increased egricultural land do not include 5,800 acres of pineapple land taken out of production during the 1975-1978 period.

A measure of program accomplishment is the number of homesteaders served and the amount of the land in the possession of native Hawaiians. According to the DHHL 1981 annual report, the number of homesteaders and the amount of acreage utilized is as follows:

Type of Number of Number of Homestead Homesteaders Acres Residential 2,618 1,330 Farms 347 7,619 Ranches 69 17,113 Community pasture */ 13,706 Total 3,034 39,768

*/ Community pastures are available for use by all the homesteaders living in the area of a community pasture.

The Chairman, DHHL, stated that in evaluating their accomplishments it should be noted that Hawaiian families tend to be large, averaging five or six members per family and, therefore, each homestead could be benefitting several Hawaiians.

Another measure of program accomplishment is obtained by a review of the eligibility lists for homesteads. There were 7,225 eligible applicants for homesteads as of March 15, 1981, summarized in Table 71. Our analysis of the lists showed that over 18 percent of the applicants had been on the eligibility lists for more than 15 years. This analysis is summarized in Table 72.