The construction of one of the world's largest telescopes on top of a Hawaiian volcano has been halted after a week of protests by Native Hawaiians who say they consider the mountain summit sacred ground.
Gov. David Ige announced that the firm building the astronomical instrument at the peak of Mauna Kea on the Big Island of Hawaii has accepted his request to stop work for one week.
The temporary construction pause agreed to by the company, Thirty Meter Telescope, will allow all parties involved, including native groups that have opposed the telescope since construction began last year, to have more discussions about the project.
"They have responded to my request and on behalf of the president of the university and the Office of Hawaiian Affairs have agreed to a time out on the project, and there will be no construction activities this week," he said on April 7.
While Native Hawaiians say the land on Mauna Kea is sacred, astronomers consider it an ideal location for an instrument intended to look into the farthest reaches and the earliest times of the universe.
"We know how sacred Mauna Kea is and also how significant the mountain is for scientific research," the governor's chief of staff Mike McCartney said in a statement. "The governor deeply appreciates the importance of this issue to all of Hawaii and understands the concerns being expressed by our community."
During the past week, during which construction vehicles were blocked from reaching the construction site by protesters, 31 people were arrested.
Protest organizer Kealoha Pisciotta called the governor's statement a positive development but said opposition to the $1.4 billion telescope project would continue.
"I think that's a good sign, but he needs to understand, however, that we can't just stand down," Pisciotta said.
He acknowledged that Ige "inherited these problems from the previous administration that had not done well by the people of Hawaii or the mountain."
A spokesman for the University of Hawaii, which subleases the land atop Muana Kea to Thirty Meter Telescope, said it was happy to have a dialogue occur between protesters, the university and county and state governments.
"We just want to keep the dialogue going, that's the most important thing at this time," spokesman Dan Meisenzahi said.
The TMT Observatory Corporation is a nonprofit founded in 2003 by the University of California, the California Institute of Technology and the Association of Canadian Universities for Research in Astronomy.
