Representatives for the telescope told BuzzFeed News that they were hoping to inspect the telescope and install a fence around the construction zone Wednesday.
Advertisement
Its partners include India, China, Canada, Japan and the Thirty Meter Telescope Observatory Corp., formed by the University of California and the California Institute of Technology. Charles Dudoit, center, is hugged by fellow protestors Wednesday, June 24, 2015, at the Maunakea Visitors Center in Hilo, Hawaii.
The nonprofit Thirty Meter Telescope worldwide Observatory LLC will build and operate the telescope.
(Holly Johnson/Hawaii Tribune-Herald via AP). The protestors have said the $1.4 billion TMT would desecrate sacred land.
Protesters say the massive telescope would be a further desecration to one of the most sacred sites in Hawaiian religion and culture.
Hundreds of protesters flocked to Mauna Kea Wednesday to prevent construction of the Thirty Meter Telescope from resuming.
In a statement released this afternoon, the governor said, “The road has been temporarily closed until further notice”. It was unclear when there might be another effort to resume.
“The state and Hawaii County are working together to uphold the law and ensure safety on roadways and on Mauna Kea, while allowing the people their right to peacefully and lawfully protest”, the governor’s office said in a statement late Tuesday.
Construction stopped for about two months after the arrests of 31 protesters in April.
Ige has responded to the protests, saying Hawaii must do a better job of caring for the mountain but that construction crews have the right to proceed.
A dozen people were arrested Wednesday, charged with obstructing and then released after posting $250 bail.
An attempt to restart construction on what would be one of the world’s largest telescopes was blocked yesterday, after state authorities escorting construction vehicles clashed with protesters blockading the road to the summit of Hawaii’s Mauna Kea volcano.
Protesters said they were ready to adopt similar tactics and go to jail if necessary to make their point Wednesday.
A ranger negotiated with protesters Thursday to take down four rock walls so observatory workers could get up the mountain to do maintenance, Meisenzahl said.
Mauna Kea demonstration, 6.24.15.
Walter Ritte, a longtime Native Hawaiian activist who was on Mauna Kea this week, said the groups had planned for a peaceful protest, but that officers’ use of force escalated the situation.
According to Mauna Kea’s self-proclaimed “protectors”, the rocks represented vessels of spirits of their kupuna.
Advertisement
Officials with the office said the new provisions have not been designed to curtail public or Native Hawaiian access but to create a safe environment for all users while protecting cultural and natural resources.
