Hawaii Governor David Ige announced on Tuesday that the construction of the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) on Mauna Kea should continue as planned as he sees no wrongdoing on the part of the company in charge of the project.
In a statement, the governor said that the people behind the TMT project were able to fulfill their obligations as "a good neighbor" just like other telescope construction projects on the Big Island.
The building of the $1.4 billion Thirty Meter Telescope was halted after protests against its construction broke out in early April. Residents of Hawaii believe that the project has violated their rights as the giant telescope is being built on sacred ground.
While Ige has expressed his support for the telescope project, the governor has laid out several changes to how future constructions on Mauna Kea will be managed.
Ige has called on the University of Hawaii (UH) to ensure that the area will be the last part of Mauna Kea where a telescope could be built. He has also instructed the university to decommission one-quarter of the 13 existing telescopes on the mountain once the building of the Thirty Meter Telescope is finished.
A new Mauna Kea Cultural Council will be created to advice Hawaii's Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) and to review all current leases and renewals for lease. Ige said that people will not be required to support the TMT in order to be part of the council.
The governor told the UH to turn over 10,000 acres of land not used for observatories to the DLNR. The university must also reduce its request for lease extension.
Ige urged the University of Hawaii to do a better job in managing Mauna Kea.
"We have in many ways failed the mountain," Ige said. "We have not done right by a very special place."
A balance between cultural experience and the pursuit of science on Mauna Kea must be restored, according to Ige, and it is the duty of the state to enforce that balance.
"From my own personal experience on the mountain, with all the noise and crowding, I could not feel the same feeling that I felt on the summit 20 years ago," the governor said.
