Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 24, Number 12, 1 December 2007 — Superferry, tourism bad for Hawaiʻi [ARTICLE]

Superferry, tourism bad for Hawaiʻi

To Superferry or not to Superferry? That isn't the question. I was on the phone the other day with a friend just back from doing errands in town. "Man, I'm getting to be just like you," he said. "What do you mean?" "It's so crowded and crazy out there I never want to go to town again!" One story tells it all. How many "visitors" to Hawai'i this year? Last time I heard it was well over 5 million, and that was a month or more ago. There is only one invasive species that we really have to worry about, and we all know what it is. The Superferry will only help it spread. The question is when are the people of Hawai'i going to say, "We've got plenty of people on these fragile little islands already, thank you. Please don't eome!" I'll vote for any office-seeker who is serious about doing something to limit toursim and development and to keep the populahon down. Tourism and "development"

may be "good for the economy," but as is often the case, what is "good for the economy" is bad for people. 8/7/ Brundage Kurtistown, Hawai'i lsland