Recently, news broke that M. Kaleo Manuel, a leader for the Obama Foundation from Hawaii, was accused of withholding water from firefighters during a critical point in the devastating Maui wildfire.
Manuel had been serving as deputy director of the Hawaii Commission on Water Resource Management before he was moved to a different position pending an investigation into his actions.
It is believed that West Maui Land Company asked for the release of water around 1 pm on August 8th when the fire began to spread rapidly, but Manuel refused and didn’t authorize it until 6 pm later that evening.
Lahaina Maui residents are questioning the government’s failure to issue fire alarms, delayed water supply during fires, and the power company’s long-standing disregard for fire warnings.
Despite fires scorching over 100,000 acres on Maui from 2016 to 2020:
•Maui’s Emergency… pic.twitter.com/UPprWLhWJh
— KanekoaTheGreat (@KanekoaTheGreat) August 18, 2023
Unfortunately, 111 people perished due to this wildfire which swept through the Lahaina area and was named one of the most deadly fires in the United States for over 100 years.
Not only were lives lost but 2,200 buildings were destroyed or damaged with 86% of them being residential homes.
West Maui Land Company wrote in a letter to Manuel that their request for diverting streams to fill reservoirs would have helped prevent some of this devastation if it wasn’t denied earlier and they watched helplessly as it all unfolded around them.
Here is M. Kaleo Manuel, the Hawaii water official who refused to release water resources and let landowners fight the Maui fire, explaining his “philosophy” about water:
“Native Hawaiians treated water as one of the earthly manifestations of a god…We’ve become used to looking… pic.twitter.com/hjsWqdVtxf
— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) August 17, 2023
In response to these allegations, The Department Of Land And Natural Resources released a statement encouraging publics not to make any judgments about Manuel’s decision making until all facts are revealed.
On its website, DLNR states that Manuel is “one of 200 inaugural Obama Leaders representing the Asia-Pacific region with the Obama Foundation” and previously spoke at length about how native Hawaiians viewed water in sacred terms during a livestream back in November 2022 saying “We can share it (water), but it requires true conversations about equity.”
Former President Barack Obama also posted a video Monday urging people to give money towards relief organizations responding to this tragedy saying “Thoughts and prayer are not enough…we have to help those families…rebuild”.
It will take all of us coming together and doing what we can to help those in need in Maui and Lāhainā right now. I hope you’ll join me in donating to the Hawai’i Red Cross today: https://t.co/CPtVJ8fGSq pic.twitter.com/yvIDCG15MP
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) August 15, 2023
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