Sunday, April 12, 2009

Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources said bridge repair would cost $4 million and take two years. Hawaii residents complete for free.


A bridge was damaged on the island of Kauai by flooding. The Hawaii state Department of Land and Natural Resources told residents it would cost $4 million and take two years to come up this the money. The residents completed the repair with donated materials and labor in only eight days. This is a great example of government bureaucracy vs. private sector initiative. Here is the story from CNN.com.

(CNN) -- Their livelihood was being threatened, and they were tired of waiting for government help, so business owners and residents on Hawaii's Kauai island pulled together and completed a $4 million repair job to a state park -- for free.

Polihale State Park has been closed since severe flooding destroyed an access road to the park and damaged facilities in December.

The state Department of Land and Natural Resources had estimated that the damage would cost $4 million to fix, money the agency doesn't have, according to a news release from department Chairwoman Laura Thielen.

"It would not have been open this summer, and it probably wouldn't be open next summer," said Bruce Pleas, a local surfer who helped organize the volunteers. "They said it would probably take two years. And with the way they are cutting funds, we felt like they'd never get the money to fix it."

And if the repairs weren't made, some business owners faced the possibility of having to shut down.

1 comment:

Barry Eller said...

Outstanding!!!

My God how refreshing to see people step up to the plate and not only solve a problem, but expose all that is wrong with our government today!

Happy Easter