By ATHENA PONUSHIS    Hanaside News Writer           Just hours before this edition went to press, the Office of Hawaiian Affairs revealed their official role -- OHA no longer finds the Hana Village Marketplace financially feasible and will not further develop the property ...	Hana Village Marketplace. Malama Ke Aina Photo NICK TURNER/Hanaside News

A string of Saturday mornings and weekday afternoons turned into six, seven, then eight months for Ronnie Hill. Driving through the heart of Hana town, the 32-year resident saw African tulips choking the Hana Village Marketplace. Hill saw a mess, he saw humiliation and he decided to cut the invasive trees down.

“My chainsaws took a beating,” said Hill, who filled dump trucks with his trimmings. “It was costly to me. Heavy duty work puts wear and tear on chains, then there’s oil and gas. I overdid it. But if you start cutting, you can’t stop.”

The story of the Hana Village Marketplace unfolds like a Shakespearean tragedy, a divide of two households, church and state. Wananalua Congregational Church owns the 1.12 acre property. A Hana non-profit organization signed a 40-year lease. The Office of Hawaiian Affairs signed a public-record document to guarantee the lease.

But a dream for Hawaiians to own their own businesses, a vision to stimulate the Hana economy, now looks like a lonely grave. Fallen tree limbs, busted window screens and shattered sliding glass doors have left locals confused. Have the higher powers washed their hands of Hana? Have governing authorities turned their backs and walked away? A genuine project was started, why have responsibilities stopped?

I got it looking good,” said Hill, who cleaned up the long abandoned project in 2007. “All we needed was for OHA to step in, to fulfill their obligation, their promise to help Hawaiians. I’m a haole myself, but I have three Hawaiian grandchildren.”

OHA plans to hold a community meeting in Hana on September 17th. Maui OHA representative Boyd Mossman hopes to discuss the Akaka Bill, affordable housing, healthcare and education. “If somebody wants to discuss the Hana marketplace, well, that’s fi ne too,” said Mossman, a retired circuit court judge. “We are not washing our hands of anything, we are trying to clean up a very difficult mess that has been created out there and hope to help Hawaiians.”

Mossman believes the ultimate completion of the marketplace was blocked by improper preparation. He asserts the state agency will determine their official role at a later date. “What I’ve told you is broad and general because there’s no real, specific decision on the Hana marketplace,” Mossman said. “And there probably won’t be until our administration has the opportunity to review all the facts, details and potentials involved.”

Mossman does not drive by the dilapidated marketplace every day, watching buildings deteriorate for over a decade. He does not step over the broken glass from green beer bottles or the plastic forks with broken tines. He does not see the obscene graffiti or the cigarette butts flicked behind.  For many locals, looking at the Hana Village Marketplace feels as unforgiving as the mirror. When you see failure, when you see shame, you look
away.

Hana caterer Gary Chow experienced the embarrassment. Wanting to open his own restaurant, he felt good intentions crumble into heartache. “I remember thinking, ‘Wow, we’re finally close to opening,’” said Chow, pulling weeds from what would have been his front entrance step. “I was actually talking to the bank, the bank president was asking me questions.”

Documents laying on the meeting desk in front of him, predicted how many people Chow was going to employ, how many Hana families his restaurant would reach. Today, he fears economic challenges will reveal the depth of the marketplace disappointment. “If we would have established the business, the town would have a better economic balance,” said Chow, the intended anchor tenant. “Right now, we basically have a one-horse town. The majority of our people work for one company, one financial backbone. If they go down, the lives of 250 employees will be devastated. And so will their families.”

Chow’s convinced, pointing fingers and casting blame cursed the marketplace. Opinions rolled into stumbling blocks. He cautions not to open wounds or drudge up the past. Nobody wants to talk about it.

Weeds have strangled millions of tax dollars, years of labor and the voices of key players involved. Questions are not welcome. And answers depend on who you’re friends with. “The story of this place is a good example of how we can get in our own way,” Chow said. “How we can lose our focus, forget the purpose, the intent of the entire project. There are no winners in this particular project, everybody lost.”