This is America. Greed without one pause to realize entire families are probably lost, there are still 1000 missing and the entire island chain is grieving some of the most beautiful people and lands on Earth. Does Wall Street care, heck no.
This attempt at a land grab of charred remains is simply an outrage, a grossly unethical value system and those attempting to take land from the victims of this wildfire should be charged and jailed.
By Ariana Baio and Stuti Mishra
At least 111 people have died (click here) as a result of the fast-moving Hawaii wildfires that caused widespread destruction in the town of Lahaina.
As search efforts are underway, residents of Maui are reporting that investors and realtors are trying to capitalise on the wildfires to purchase land from locals....
These are not normal or ethical practices.
Imagine waking up one day to be told you’re about to be evicted from your home —being told that you no longer have the right to remain on land that you’ve lived on for years. And then, if you refuse to leave, being forcibly removed. For many communities in developing countries, this is a familiar story.
In the past decade, more than 81 million acres of land worldwide—an area the size of Portugal—has been sold off to foreign investors. Some of these deals are what’s known as land grabs: land deals that happen without the free, prior, and informed consent of communities that often that often result in farmers being forced from their homes and families left hungry. The term “land grabs” was defined in the Tirana Declarations (2011) by the International Land Coalition, consisting of 116 organizations from community groups to the World Bank....
There is a journalist that lives in Hawaii and very familiar with local understanding of the land.
The scores of deaths on Maui were not because of Hurricane Dora.
Our islands have been disrespected for centuries.
Hawaii’s lands and waters have been devastated by extractive agriculture, overdevelopment and militarization.
The consequences of raising non-native crops and livestock in Hawaii have ravaged our lands and made us the planet’s extinction capital.
This is an obvious truth we know: Maui was a tinderbox. The warnings were given but not heeded. The repeating instances of institutional negligence are enervating.
The warnings came not only from academics and nonprofit organizations, but they were also in the mo’olelo (stories) from our kupuna.
After all, Lahaina in Olelo Hawaii means “cruel sun.”...
