Elegant lodge and other ranch properties on Hawaii's most laid-back island to cease operations
Less than a year ago, we visited Molokai, home to roughly 7,500 people, and stayed at a lovely inn on Molokai Ranch, which sprawls across 60,000 acres (roughly one-third of the island). You can read my overview here. We saw plans by Molokai Properties Ltd., a subsidiary of Guoco Group, to set aside 50,000 acres in a conservation easement and develop 500 beachfront acres at La'au Point into a luxurious subdivision for up to 200 mansions -- hardly in keeping with Moloka'i's quiet, spiritual side but offering the promise of jobs to the island with Hawaii's highest unemployment rate.
Locals, with a personal interest in their island, of course also saw the plans, and even after some 150 public hearings, many didn't like what they saw as the ruination of their quiet, non-materialistic way of life. Others would have welcomed the expansive second homes as providing employment (many islanders currently commute to nearby Maui to work in tourism there).
Thinking about the McMansions, Prairie Palaces and gated communities in Colorado and elsewhere on the mainland, I felt sad that a developer was now eyeing lovely Moloka'i for an over-the-top subdivision. According to an Associated Press report, "Molokai Ranch submitted an environmental impact statement to the state Land Use Commission for approval in October. But commissioners said the study inadequately addressed water treatment, potential environmental hazards to Hawaiian monk seals and other issues. The ranch withdrew the study but had said it planned to prepare another one."
It appears that the company has changed its collective mind. The ranch owners recently announced the closing of the Molokai Lodge (room shown at right), Kaupoa Beach Village, the Kaluakoi Golf Course, the Maunaloa gas station, the Maunaloa Tri-Plex theater, the colony of casual, economical Tentalows near the beach and oddly, a cattle-rearing business -- and public access to private ranch property will now be denied. According to reports, the owning company, Guoco Leisure's Peter Nichols issued a statement saying that "unacceptable delays caused by continued opposition...means we are unable to fund continued normal company operations."
Less than a year ago, we visited Molokai, home to roughly 7,500 people, and stayed at a lovely inn on Molokai Ranch, which sprawls across 60,000 acres (roughly one-third of the island). You can read my overview here. We saw plans by Molokai Properties Ltd., a subsidiary of Guoco Group, to set aside 50,000 acres in a conservation easement and develop 500 beachfront acres at La'au Point into a luxurious subdivision for up to 200 mansions -- hardly in keeping with Moloka'i's quiet, spiritual side but offering the promise of jobs to the island with Hawaii's highest unemployment rate.
Locals, with a personal interest in their island, of course also saw the plans, and even after some 150 public hearings, many didn't like what they saw as the ruination of their quiet, non-materialistic way of life. Others would have welcomed the expansive second homes as providing employment (many islanders currently commute to nearby Maui to work in tourism there).
Thinking about the McMansions, Prairie Palaces and gated communities in Colorado and elsewhere on the mainland, I felt sad that a developer was now eyeing lovely Moloka'i for an over-the-top subdivision. According to an Associated Press report, "Molokai Ranch submitted an environmental impact statement to the state Land Use Commission for approval in October. But commissioners said the study inadequately addressed water treatment, potential environmental hazards to Hawaiian monk seals and other issues. The ranch withdrew the study but had said it planned to prepare another one."
It appears that the company has changed its collective mind. The ranch owners recently announced the closing of the Molokai Lodge (room shown at right), Kaupoa Beach Village, the Kaluakoi Golf Course, the Maunaloa gas station, the Maunaloa Tri-Plex theater, the colony of casual, economical Tentalows near the beach and oddly, a cattle-rearing business -- and public access to private ranch property will now be denied. According to reports, the owning company, Guoco Leisure's Peter Nichols issued a statement saying that "unacceptable delays caused by continued opposition...means we are unable to fund continued normal company operations."
Tourism Blackmail
It seems as if this international, cross-border corporation is putting the screws on Moloka'i by shutting down the biggest enterprise on the island and directly cutting off some of the few employment opportunities that exist, and then via the ripple effect, hurting small business as well. I feel terribly sorry for the locals like the ebuillient Rudy Dela Cruz , who shepherded us around Moloka'i. Many people indeed have staked their dreams on the infusion of money that they foresaw for their island. Still, I don't get the warm fuzzies about GuocoLeisure, which was established in Hong Kong, is based in Singapore, was once called BIL International, is listed on the Hong Kong stock exhange but incorporated in Bermuda. "In pursuit of prime value" appears to be the company slogan.
"The Group's principal activities are operating the 'Thistle' chain of hotels in the United Kingdom and developing land and properties on Fijian and Hawaiian islands for residential and tourism purposes. These properties include the Molokai Properties and the Denarau Properties. The Group operates in Australasia, Asia, the United States of America, and United Kingdom," according to an online profile. In the six months that ended on December 31, 2007, the company reported HK$1,021,000,000 in earnings, up 36 percent from the previous year. That doesn't give much credibility to Nichols's contention that they can't afford to keep Molokai Ranch going unless they are allowed to create an exclusive, expensive subdivision.
"Molokai, Hawaii's sleepiest major island, is getting sleepier," wrote Jane Engle in the Los Angeles Times. That, depending on which position one agrees with, is either good news or bad news. But in either case, it was big news on this small island.
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