During an interview with Hawaii News Now that took place on Saturday and was released on Sunday, Maui County Mayor Richard Bissen responded to a question on complaints from people who wish to go back to their homes about not being able to get help due to bureaucratic red tape by stating that many people have had success with FEMA, he’s not sure exactly what the complaints about red tape mean, and “it’s not a matter of bureaucracy or red tape, it’s a matter of safety.”
Hawaii News Now host and Reporter Annalisa Burgos asked, “Mayor, let me ask you about FEMA, because I did speak to a few displaced residents who have become frustrated, because, as you said, there’s so much response happening on the ground, it’s kind of hard to coordinate multiple voices, and I think some of the people I’ve spoken to have said, I’m going to this one person, and they don’t know how to help me. So, I’m going to this other person, and they don’t know how to help me, specifically, people who want to go back to their homes, who want to see what’s left of their properties, how do you, I guess, respond to them, who are saying that this is frustrating, there’s so much bureaucratic red tape that’s happening, especially for people who have experienced so much loss?”
Bissen responded, “Yeah, I don’t know if it’s bureaucratic red tape. And have you spoke to anybody who says that they’ve had success with working with FEMA? Because over 4,000 people have over $14 million in their bank accounts right now, and it’d be great to talk to those people too. … But, of course, I’m hoping those people have registered, over 10,000 people have already registered with FEMA here on Maui, and that’s something we’re trying to encourage people to do. As far as bureaucratic red tape, I’m not sure exactly what that means. What I do know is that that place is a hazardous area, and unless you go in with someone that is familiar with where things are, I don’t know which homes people are looking to go to, I supposed all of them, at some point. We do have a process that we’re following. We have just concluded the search and recovery portion, which we had over 400 people, over 43 dogs at the same time handling this area — this 5-square mile of searching. And so, that was our priority. We are now going to go into the next phase, the Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, they’ll be removing all the toxins, toxic material, hazardous material. We don’t want anybody in there until that happens. … And then we are going to have to have inspectors from the Department of Health, as well as from Planning and Building to come in and determine the viability of the structures, if they still remain, and, of course, the air quality and the quality of the area. That has to be done. And then we will be allowing people to return to their properties. But it’s not a matter of bureaucracy or red tape, it’s a matter of safety.”
He added that you’re criticized if you let people in too quickly or too slowly, but they’re moving as quickly as they can and people don’t have to sign up to return to their homes.
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