“We’ve had families come up to us and say they haven’t taken their children out there for at least a couple years and now they’re planning to bring them back,” said Guy Chang, the Oahu branch chief for DLNR’s Division of Conservation and Resources Enforcement.
In late June the state Land Board passed emergency rules to prevent binge drinking and bouts of violence on and around the sandbar, a native Hawaiian cultural site known as Ahu o Laka. The new rules ban possession of alcohol and drug use in an area marked by six buoys. Violators face a fine of not less than $50 and not more than a $1,000.
The board felt compelled to act after Kamaka Torres, 26 of Kahaluu, died after getting into a fight at Heeia Kea Small Boat Harbor, the main launching site for boaters headed to the sandbar. Prosecutors ruled the man who struck Torres causing him to hit his head on the pavement acted in self-defense.
FINES LEVIED
During the Fourth of July holiday two military service members were each fined $50 by the Land Board for possessing alcoholic beverages. A third person, a boater, was fined $200.
However on Friday the sandbar was a scene of tranquility. By noon only a handful of boats were moored around Ahu o Laka. Gloria Baraquio was on a sailboat with friends and family that included several children.
“Why do you need alcohol when we’re in such a beautiful place,” asserted Baraquio, who lives in downtown Honolulu. “We’ve got the kids, we’ve got our music (and) we got some snorkels – it’s all good.”
DLNR conservation officers patrolled the sandbar on four boats, keeping an eye on what people were drinking or pulling out of coolers. As of five o’clock officers had conducted thirty-four boardings but did not issue a single citation for possession of alcohol.
Ted Mura, a Manoa resident who has been at the sandbar during past three day holidays, said he enjoyed Friday’s peaceful atmosphere.
“I’ve been out here before when there’s been huge fights at the sandbar and there’s been a lot of issues,” said Mura. “It’s been really nice today.”
To date the only major disruption to the sandbar safety zone has been an act of vandalism against four of the six buoys used to mark the area. Three of the buoys were torn off their moorings shortly after Independence Day, while the fourth was pushed out to sea.
DLNR’s Division of Boating and Ocean Recreation replaced the damaged buoys Thursday. DOBAR Oahu District Manager Meghan Statts said anyone caught damaging the buoys would face immediate arrest.
“We’ve got another three day weekend coming up with Labor Day so we want to make sure that the buoys are on station,” said Statts.
The emergency rules at the sandbar are scheduled to lapse October 21. The Land Board must decide in the coming weeks whether the rules will be extended or if the board should begin the process of making them permanent.
“I do think it’s a good thing,” said Baraquio about the rules. “It’s all about safety out here.”
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