| Posted on: Thursday,
June 12, 2003
Grants to help port security in
Hawai'i
Associated Press
The state and four Hawai'i companies will receive
more than $7 million in federal grant money to help combat terrorist
threats by sea, Sen. Dan Inouye announced yesterday.
"As we all know, Hawai'i is very dependent on
maritime traffic. Our ports are vital lifelines for our islands,"
said Inouye, D-Hawai'i, adding that the grants are key to ensuring
the safety of Hawai'i's ports.
The largest grant, for $2.9 million, was awarded
to the Tesoro Hawaii Corp., which owns a refinery in West O'ahu. The
state Department of Land and Natural Resources will receive $1.5
million for Kailua on the Big Island and Matson Navigation Co. will
get $805,000.
Other grants — all more than $600,000 — were
awarded to the state Department of Transportation, The Gas Co. and
Chevron Products Co.-Hawaii Refinery.
Coast Guard Lt. Charlie Johnson, the assistant
chief of Hawai'i's port operations, said the grants will pay for
physical upgrades to security at the ports, ranging from barriers to
security systems to training programs.
The grants are awarded by the U.S. Department of
Transportation's Maritime Administration. This is the second year
they have been offered.
Johnson said he led the committee of Coast Guard
personnel that reviewed Hawai'i's applications for the grants and
ranked them for the transportation department.
During the review process, the committee
investigated whether a company's claim to a potential security
threat was valid and, if so, how severe that threat was.
Officials at Tesoro Corp. and the state's DLNR
did not return phone calls seeking comment. Chevron referred comment
to the Coast Guard.
Coast Guard spokesman Lt. Cmdr. Todd Offutt also
could not give specifics on what the money will be used for, but
said the grants will address different areas of port security
concern.
Hawai'i residents and cruise ship passengers "may
or may not" see any difference at Hawaii's ports because of the
grants, he said.
"Some of those things are visible and some are
less visible."
Offutt said the Coast Guard continues to see
improvements in the physical and computer security at Hawai'i's
ports.
Johnson agreed.
"The state of Hawai'i has done a very good job,"
he said. "We have a very good security posture. I think we are doing
quite well."
The grants are part of the $150 million in the
2003 Omnibus Appropriations Act and $20 million from the 2003
Supplemental Appropriations Act set aside for port
security.
Other ports that received awards include: The New
York City Department of Transportation, $7 million; the port of San
Francisco, $3.4 million; and the Alaska Department of
Transportation, $2.2 million, Inouye press secretary Mike Yuen
said.
|
Hawai'i's Newspaper Online 
Tuesday, November 29,
2005
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