Kamilonui farmers critical of rent plan

November 16, 2010

HONOLULU (AP) - Farmers who have tilled Kamilonui Valley's soil for decades are protesting a proposed rent hike, waving signs along Kalanianaole Highway over the weekend.

Kamehameha Schools, which owns land in the valley on the eastern side of Oahu, wants to raise rents from an average of $15 an acre per month to as much as $434 an acre each month, a move that prodded the farmers into action.

''We want to fight for the farmers in Kamilonui Valley,'' Judy Nii told KGMB. Her nursery, R&S Nursery, has been in the valley for more than 30 years.

''There are a lot of small farmers, vegetable farms, some nurseries, and the rent that they're asking for is just so outrageous that none of us can afford it,'' she added.

Nii said she currently pays $1,200 a year in rent for her 6 acres. ''And what they're proposing in my case is $32,000 a year, which is totally unfeasible,'' she said.

The farmers accused one of Hawaii's largest landow-ners of failing to negotiate in good faith. They said the lease renegotiation deadline was in July, and contended that Kamehameha Schools is now refusing to talk to them.

Kamehameha spokesman Kekoa Paulsen said Saturday that the institution has been meeting with the farmers since March.

''We have given them several extensions of time,'' said Paulsen. ''We are headed into arbitration on the lease negotiations. . . . We believe that the arbitration process will determine a fair price, and we will abide by the arbitrator's decision.''

Paulsen said Kamehameha hopes the farmers appreciate ''that they've been paying extremely favorable rents for 38 years for land that has provided their livelihood and also their residence.''

Republican state Rep. Gene Ward, of the Kalama Valley and Hawaii Kai areas, also participated in the sign-waving.