TMT Supporters Hold Sign-Waving Event in Hilo

With signs reading “Open the Road,” “Imua TMT,” “Aloha TMT,” “Pro Education, Pro Science, Pro Culture,” Support Culture and Science,” “TMT Stronger Hawai‘i,” “Explore the Stars” and other slogans, about 100 supporters participated in a Thirty Meter Telescope rally in Hilo along Kanoelehua Avenue on Thursday, Aug. 15, 2019.

Jason Chu, one of the co-organizers of the three recent Hilo sign-wavings, is a post doctoral fellow at Gemini North Observatory atop Maunakea. He was a graduate student at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa. He has been here for 10 years, since Maunakea was first selected as the site for the controversial TMT project.

“As the polls recently show, there are a lot of people in Hawai‘i who are behind this project and believe in all the benefits this project will give,” said Chu. “We’re here to show the governor that there are people here who firmly believe that the project should go forward and for him to enforce the law and open the roads for TMT to go up.”

He continued that on the Big Island on Maunakea, “we have a very valuable scientific resource that we would love to share with Native Hawaiians and everybody… share the beauty of the mountain and also share the science from discoveries that can come from the mountain.”

He added, “We share that with the entire world and that would put Hawai‘i on the map of the world.”