KOKUA

"On August 14, Kingdom Pathways, led by Joseph Kaahema Simpliciano and Carmen Guzman, members of the Pōka'ī Bay Neighborhood Security Watch, friends and neighbors gathered along Pōka'ī Bay Street with their weed whackers, rakes, hoes, tree trimmers. This area is a hidden gem that is being taken back by the community from crime, excessive speeding/racing and illegal dumping."

"Blessing the day with protocol for all in attendance was the members of the Royal Order of Kamehameha I, arriving by wa'a (canoe) and greeted by the sound of the pū (conch shell) on the shoreline." 

"Accepting the kuleana for the group in raising our Hae Hawai'i were Lynette Cruz, Lena Spain-Suzuki and Niklauz Kūka'ilimoku Guzman-Simpliciano."

“We deserve to be a priority,” said Carmen Guzman-Simpliciano, a lifelong resident of the Westside who has lead petitions demanding  state officials implement a 1998 master plan that called for the highway to be rerouted.

“How do we get on that priority list?” asked Waianae resident Carmen Simpliciano, who collected 1,800 signatures on a petition demanding that DOT realign the highway mauka instead of continuing a $20 million project it started this month to repair the two highway bridges at Makaha Beach.

“People are always coming out to Makaha — officials, mayors, senators — saying they’ll help, but nothing gets done,” said Joseph Simpliciano. “This has to change.”

"But Westside resident Carmen Guzman-Simpliciano, who feels “betrayed” by the recent OMPO decision and decades of delay, is wary. She created a petition against the bypass road and has been active in local government for years to implement the 1998 master plan."

Joseph Simpliciano, a retired infantry officer, said community members have already tried to take matters into their own hands.

“Me and some community members, we try to take care of the beaches,” Simpliciano said. “But it seems like every time we ask for help we never get any help from our representatives and senators.”

It’s an ongoing issue, he said.