LAVA RECOVERY UPDATE

HIGHWAY 137, BLESSING CEREMONY, FOUR CORNERS

Tuesday, Sept. 24, 10 am

By Raydiance Joy Grace

Photos by Kilauea Eruption Recovery and Raydiance

Where else other than Hawaii could you attend an opening of a road with Pule, (prayers),  Mele Oli, (chanting),  and Hoʻokupu, (flower/plant decorations) as an offering to the entities of the Āina (land)? What a beautiful ceremony combining all three uniquely Hawaiian attributes. I had the privilege of living on the “Red Road” in Kapoho for over 10 years next to the Ahalanui warm pond. I swam there, Vacation Land Tidepools, the Champagne Pond, and “Green Lake” many times. There is a feeling of loss and sorrow at losing access to these healing waters. I do not pretend to understand the forces of nature giving and taking away such landmarks. I can only acknowledge the restoration and healing I received while swimming in these places. I give gratitude to Pele for creating another warm pond at Pohoiki that allows me, other seniors, and locals a safe place to swim on the “Red Road.” I pray that this gift from Pele, our new sacred pond, stays intact! I pray that another solution other than dredging the pond to restore the harbor for the fishermen arises from the ashes of Pele. As all the speakers commented at the road blessing and ceremony, “It is time for the community to move forward to another chapter in our history!”

Steven Pause, the director of the Hawaii Public Works, opened the ceremony by saying, “This is a combination of a lot of people and a lot of work, a lot of partners for several years. It takes a village. I think that this is also representative of the community today. Everyone has been involved. There has been lots of public input. Lots of work on engineering and contracting. We are just really excited that today is finally here and we are off and running.”

Next speaker, Ashley Kerkiewicz, County-Councilwoman for District 4, on the opening of the construction of Highway 137: “The road to recovery begins with a road. More than six years following the historic Kīlauea eruption, which upended lives and forever changed Puna, we gathered at Four Corners this morning to bless equipment and pray for the safe and successful restoration of Highway 137. This is such a significant milestone! We’ve come a long way for sure, but there is still so much to do for Puna to fully heal and recover.

 “Mahalo to our community for standing strong and always showing up, and for the many people and agencies involved in bringing us to this point. It’s so surreal! Tears of joy and relief that there is forward progress. Today was about reaffirming the commitment we have to each other, our community, and our future to bring about a stronger, more sustainable Puna. We got you, Puna! Let’s get it done!” 

“Our collaboration of working together putting differences aside for the betterment of the community was our commitment. I want to thank everyone who has worked tirelessly to bring us to this point, particularly public works; our planning and recovery team, our “Revitalize Puna Hui”, state and federal partners, and our community for not giving up hope. We are also so grateful to our contractor, ISEMOTO IN HILO, for stepping up to shoulder this Kuleana, to rise to the occasion to make it happen for our community. We pray for the safety of your crew so that they are protected and we finish this project successfully because it is how we move forward as a community.”

The foreman said, “I am very excited about working on this project and hoping that we finish this road as soon as we can.” When asked about the timeframe, He replied, “A year and some change. We will see how it goes. This is a difficult job because we are touching raw materials, unknown materials, and hot spots that we will encounter. We won’t know until we get there. We will be fine”.

 Ashley completed her talk with these uplifting words: “We can celebrate today! It is a milestone but we need to look forward and move forward. Today is not just about restoration, it is about planning for the future and taking action on those plans. This landscape of Puna has changed but our resolve has never been stronger. I am so committed to the vision. I will continue to show up to work alongside every one of you. Our journey does not end when roads are restored. Today reminds us that we have so much work left to do and we need to double down and recommit ourselves to each other so that Puna can thrive not just today but we are building something beautiful for future generations. Mahalo for being here. It is an honor to represent and serve you”.

Smiley Burrows, landowner of Green Lake now under lava, shared: “What an incredible day this is for our community. The road to recovery begins with the roads. Our community worked very hard with the help of many great people involved in the county supporting this recovery. So many people are putting their love and energy into restoring and healing our community today. I want to thank Auntie Emily for sharing prayers for this opening day, Ashley for her work in making this happen, and the school, Kua O Ka La, PCS which was covered over with lava. My children all started there the first year it became a school. It was very special to have the children come down here today to pray as the school was lost during the eruption in 2018.  Mahalo Ke Akua” “(By uttering Mahalo Ke Akua, Hawaiians acknowledge the abundance of blessings bestowed upon them by the divine!)”

I asked Auntie Emily, “What is the importance of doing a blessing when a road opens again?” She responded: “It is about danger, there could be danger because when you go on this Āina (land) that has been eaten up by tutu Pele, you have to pray for the uncle’s safety during the whole project.”

“Watch the highlights from the beautiful blessing ceremony at 4 Corners on Sept. 24. 2024 where our community came together to mark the start of this long-awaited project.

Thank you to everyone who attended and showed their support! This portion of the restoration project will improve the road from Highway 132 to Pohoiki Road, with completion expected by March 2026.”  KILAUEA ERUPTION RECOVERY

Click on this link: 

https://www.facebook.com/Kilauearecovery/videos/468331642868037 

Scroll down until you see the video.