Department of Hawaiian Home Lands awards leases to 200 East Hawai‘i residents
An additional 200 project leases for the homestead project in Hilo are expected to be awarded in August.
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The State Department of Hawaiian Home Lands awarded 200 project leases to East Hawai‘i residents for the first time in 20 years.
The awards for the Pana‘ewa Homestead, located off of Elama Road next to the Hilo Drag Strip, were announced on July 11 at the University of Hawai‘i at Hilo Performing Arts Center Theater, where state leaders were in attendance, including Hawai‘i Gov. Josh Green, DHHL Director Kali Watson, U.S. Rep. Jill Tokuda along with other local and state lawmakers.
Pana‘ewa Homestead – a more than 334-acre parcel – will be the site of 400 residential lots.
These project leases mark another milestone in expanding homesteading opportunities across the state, Green stated on his Facebook page. An additional 200 project leases for the homestead are expected to be awarded in August.
“We’re reducing the waitlist, building new communities and delivering on our commitment to put more beneficiaries onto Hawaiian home lands,” Green stated.
Tens of thousands of Native Hawaiians have been waiting for lands they had been promised under the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act, which was signed into law 105 years ago.
According to the DHHL website, Act 279, SLH 2022, appropriated $600 million in general funds to provide a multi-pronged approach to reduce the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands Waiting List. The $600 million will address the needs of beneficiaries on the DHHL waitlist and those still waiting to get on the land.
The land trust consists of over 200,000 acres on the islands of Hawai‘i, Maui, Moloka‘i, Lāna‘i, O‘ahu and Kaua‘i.
