Land settlement negotiations at impasse
Advertiser reports
that negotiations over the so-called ceded lands (Hawaiian national lands)
settlement are at an
impasse:Just days after the end of the legislative session and a failed attempt to reach an agreement over how much ceded-land revenue is owed to the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, the key parties involved appear to again be at loggerheads.
This time the issue is over what should happen next. While Gov. Linda Lingle says her administration stands by the existing proposal, lawmakers and OHA want to go back to the bargaining table.
Lawmakers did not approve an agreement reached between the Lingle administration and OHA that would have given the agency three parcels of land valued at $187 million and $13 million cash, as well as a minimum of $15.1 million in ensuing years.
But in the waning days of the session, legislators tacked onto the state budget a nonbinding proviso requiring the Lingle administration and OHA to resume negotiations on the 30-year-old dispute.
Meanwhile, Lingle on Friday told reporters her staff will not return to the negotiating table with OHA leaders.
Posted: Tue - May 6, 2008 at 08:56 AM