Hawaii Governor Josh Green (D) announced Monday that his administration is looking into acquiring the properties destroyed by the recent wildfires in that Lahaina area.
“I’m already thinking of ways for the state to acquire that land so that we can put it into workforce housing, to put it back into families, or make it open spaces in perpetuity as a memorial to the people who were lost,” Green said while standing amongst the rubble.
“We want this to be something we remember after the pain passes as a magic place. Lahaina will rebuild. The tragedy right now is the loss of life.”
Green claimed the government’s acquisition of Lahaina’s highly sought after real estate is justified to prevent foreign firms from buying it up first.
“The buildings can be rebuilt over time, even the banyan tree may survive, but we don’t want this to become a clear space where then people from overseas just come and decide they’re gonna take it. The state will take it and preserve it first,” Green said.
Hawaii’s governor reiterated that point in a press conference Tuesday, warning developers that it will be a “very long time” before any housing and businesses can be rebuilt.
“It’s going to be a very long time before any growth or housing can be built, so you will be pretty poorly informed if you try to steal land from our people and then build here,” he said, adding, “I will try to allow no one from outside our state to buy any land until we get through this crisis and decide what Lahaina should be in the future.”
Trying to take land away from our people before we’ve had a chance to grieve and rebuilt is not pono, and we will not stand for it. pic.twitter.com/gZczd1oLTo
— Governor Josh Green (@GovJoshGreenMD) August 15, 2023
Green said Thursday that Lahaina will one day be “rebuilt” with its own “image” and “values.”
“All those buildings are eventually going to have to be rebuilt. It will be a new Lahaina. In its own image, its own values. But it’s going to be billions of dollars,” Green said.
Green’s announcement comes as Lahaina residents take to social media claiming large firms are already reaching out to them with offers to purchase their property, while others claim the wildfires were deliberately set to displace the local residents who owned this valuable land.
Here we go the land grab pic.twitter.com/FCa3SgiHzw
— FreedomRings @Dawna48664870 (@FreedomRings586) August 15, 2023
Maui landowners are terrified that the State of Hawai’i is going to take their land—and I would be too
The 5th Amendment’s Taking Clause authorizes the gov’t to confiscate private land so long as (1) it’s used for “public benefit” and (2) “just compensation” is provided to the…
— Mike Yoder (@yoder_esq) August 14, 2023
Hawaii land grab pic.twitter.com/rkYY9J7U6c
— Shadow of Ezra (@ShadowofEzra) August 13, 2023
Anyone think these fires in Maui are a land grab? pic.twitter.com/kTP5GuZpuD
— Washingtons ghost (@hartgoat) August 12, 2023
Maui -game, set, match by the DS.
This land grab was all planned. This was no accident.
Organized crime. Innocent victims. #Maui #MauiFire #MauiFires #insurance #LandGrab pic.twitter.com/A4s36eMtii
— LuckyLadyFox9 (@LuLFo9) August 15, 2023
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