A group of Lahaina fire survivors and supporters have been camping at Kāʻanapali Beach for 88 days. They’re taking a stand for long-term housing — because 6 months after the fire that destroyed their town, more than 2,000 families still live out of hotels.
Pa’ele Kiakona said he sometimes has trouble remembering just how long it’s been.
“The fact that we're losing track of how many days we've been down here just proves that we've been down here too long," he said. "Too many days without dignified housing for our people.”
Kiakona is an organizer of Lahaina Strong, the grassroots group that’s led the Fishing for Housing movement.
“We're down here on Kāʻanapali," he told HPR while sitting in a tent on the beach. "It's loaded with tourists. Currently down here looking at two catamarans coming in with about 100 people on board each."
"That being said, we just want more respectful tourism. Not saying all of them have been disrespectful — a lot of them have been awesome — but some people come here with almost a chip on their shoulder and entitled.”
In the three months Lahaina Strong has been staked out at the beach, storms have ripped their tents to shreds. High swells regularly come up too high for comfort. They dig deep trenches in the sand to keep from getting washed away. They have to re-dig them regularly, with the help of volunteers.
But it doesn’t always work.
“We had waves come through, literally carried me away in the middle of the night at 2 a.m. in the morning on my blow-up bed and I found myself floating down the beach,” Kiakona recalled.
Gov. Josh Green has promised to stop vacation rentals in West Maui if needed, but Lahaina Strong supporters say they have yet to see those promises fulfilled.
“Our people need the housing. They're still currently about 5,000 people still without long-term, dignified housing, a lot of them are still staying in hotels," Kiakona said.
There are 27,000 short-term rental units on Maui and a severe shortage of long-term housing for local families. Maui County offered a tax exemption to vacation rental owners who convert their units to long-term housing for fire survivors. That closed on Jan. 31.
Lahaina Strong organizers said it’s important for Lahaina residents to stay in Lahaina. The state’s current plan would relocate some to other areas of Maui.
“We made a statement in the beginning that we're going to stay here until our people get housed," Kiakona said. "Until we start seeing a plan being put together and those first few families being moved into their house, we're going to stay here and continue to demonstrate and occupy the beach.”
In the meantime, winter swells and recent rains continue to batter the Lahaina Strong headquarters.
“We did not expect that we would have to be here this long. So we set up in an area knowing the potential for sand to disappear and it's happening.”
Kiakona said they are now having to solidify the camp even more.
“It’s never a walk in the park. It’s never a walk on the beach, either. But we just take it day by day," Kiakona said.
