“I’m more concerned of big land developers coming in and seeing this charred land as an opportunity to rebuild,” said Richy Palalay, who was born and raise in the Hawaii town of Lahaina on the island of Maui.
and local-born residents who can no longer afford to live in their homeland.
Palalay, 25, was born and raised in Lahaina. He started working at an oceanfront seafood restaurant in town when he was 16 and worked his way up to be kitchen supervisor. He was training to be a sous chef. The blaze torched Palalay’s restaurant, his neighborhood, his friends’ homes and possibly even the four-bedroom house where he pays $1,000 monthly to rent one room. He and his housemates haven’t had an opportunity to return to examine it themselves, though they’ve seen images showing their neighborhood in ruins.in the 1800s, made him the man he is today.
Sterling Higa, the executive director of Housing Hawaii’s Future, a nonprofit organization that advocates for more housing in Hawaii, said the town is host to many houses that have been in the hands of local families for generations. But it’s also been subject to gentrification. Many on Kauai spent years fighting for insurance payments after Hurricane Iniki slammed into the island in 1992 and said the same could happen in Lahaina, Higa said.
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