The Hawaii governor is looking to acquire land in Lahaina, a seaside resort town, which was damaged by recent wildfires. The governor Josh Green announced on Monday while speaking to KHON2 News.
Green promised to stop people from other countries from coming in to take advantage of the sad situation. He thinks it’s a good idea for the state to manage the land instead.
Hawaii governor Josh Green says the state is looking to ‘acquire land’ in Lahaina that was destroyed in fires
“The buildings can be rebuilt over time, and even the banyan tree may survive, but we don’t want this to become a clear space where then people from overseas just come and decide they’re gonna take it. The state will take it and preserve it first,” Green said while standing amongst the rubble.
During another press conference, Green talked about how he’s really committed to making sure the land stays safe for the people who live there, The Post Millenial reported. He also shared that he had talked to the Hawaiian attorney general about the “options to do a moratorium on any sales of properties that have been damaged or destroyed.”
Hawaii governor’s response to wildfire devastation
“It’s going to be a very long time before any growth or housing can be built, so you will be pretty poorly informed if you try to steal land from our people and then build here,” he said, adding, “I will try to allow no one from outside our state to buy any land until we get through this crisis and decide what Lahaina should be in the future.”
The fire that happened in Lahaina is the most deadly wildfire in the United States in over a hundred years. It caused the death of at least 99 people, and authorities believe this number will increase significantly. The fire wrecked around 2,200 buildings, with about 1,500 of them being people’s homes. It also burned an area of more than 2,100 acres, according to Civil Beat.
