HILO, Hawaii (AP) - A Hawaii voyaging canoe captain has voiced his support for the construction of a giant telescope atop Mauna Kea, saying there is no conflict between science and Hawaiian cultural practices.
Chad Kalepa Baybayan was called as a witness for the University of Hawaii in the contested case Wednesday. Hearings for the Thirty Meter Telescope’s construction permit have been moving slowly since they began Oct. 20.
The $1.4 billion project has stalled amid protests by Native Hawaiians and others who say building the telescope will desecrate sacred land.
But Baybayan doesn’t see it that way. The navigator said “the highest level of desecration” would be limiting opportunities for Hawaii’s youths.
“It is culturally consistent to advocate for Hawaiian participation in a field of science that continued to enable that tradition, and a field of work in which we ought to lead,” Baybayan said in written testimony.
Babayan is an employee of the University of Hawaii working on the Polynesian Voyaging Society’s Malama Honua Worldwide Voyage. He is also the former resident navigator for the Imiloa Astronomy Center, which is part of the university.
He also spoke about ancient Hawaiians who used the stars to navigate and described the telescope project on Mauna Kea as a “sacred mission.”
The contested case hearing was ordered by the state Supreme Court after justices invalidated the project’s permit last year, finding that the state land board’s approval process was flawed.
Baybayan was the third witness in the case, which could see as many as 85 people called to testify.
Thirty Meter Telescope officials have said they want a permit in place by the end of the year or early next year in order to resume construction in 2018. They are pursuing alternate sites in case the telescope can’t be built in Hawaii, and have selected a mountain in the Canary Islands, Spain as the primary alternative.
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