Tourism sets aside local population

Honolulu Star Bulletin
Cynthia Oi's column ("'Waimanalo Blues' heard all over Oahu," Under the Sun, May 10) should be mandatory reading for all of our elected representatives and all of those in the city and state planning and permitting offices.
Her summary of the Hawaii Tourism Authority survey showing that a "definite majority of residents think that the islands are being run for tourists at the expense of local people" fits to a "T" the current development embroglio here on the North Shore.

My wife and I recently met with some New Zealand friends who have many years in the hospitality business there, staying in Waikiki on their second trip in about 10 years, and listened to their valid complaint that there did not seem to be any bar or restaurant that catered to residents. It seems as though most businesses in Waikiki are devoted to wringing the last dollar from tourists. It seems as though with 7 million-plus visitors each year, it doesn't matter if they don't return.

Now that Waikiki has succumbed to the lure of the dollar, with Kapolei well on the way as a "destination resort" to the same fate, it is imperative that the brakes immediately be placed on all hotel and resort development proposed for the North Shore. The cry to "keep the country country" must be heeded.

Ross McGerty
Waialua