The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1914-11-13
Municipal Affairs Committee Of
Chamber Of Commerce Reports
On Koolaupoko Scandal
BRANDS IoB-FoR-y0TERS
AS DEsPIcAsLE POLICY
Climatic Conditions, Bunglcd Spe-
oifications and Politics Might
Have Figured In Waste

Why a $l6,000.a.mile road went 20
pieces "a less than eleven months;
what should be done TO put this road
ip good condition again74this Koo
laupoko stretch of the belt road; mneh
eogstruetiye criticism Of road building
in general and announcement Of the
iob.fof voters brand Of highway work,
sketches the scope and gives rough
i,lea Of The salient points touched upon
l in q report Of the municipal affairs
committee Of the chamber Of commereA
made 70 the directors of that holy
/ ycstcfihy Afternoon, and adopted with
tout 4 dissenting vote.
This report fepfesents the result Of
+, lengthy Investigation by the commit
tee into the causes surrounding the
failure Of the Expensive Koolaupoko
road to stand the wear upon 1t for
even short time. The investigation
did not carry it beyond the Koolaa
poke and Hakipun roads, and yet the
report Is eminently OF value wherever
road work on the island may be nm
ldertaken, touching, as il docs, upon
aereral principles Of highway construe.
tiop.
No Scandal Unearthed
No scandal is uuearthed III the
probe into this Koolaupoko road fail
urc. Indeed, the committee does not
even place the blame for IL. Somebody
erred That is as near as they come
Ito IL. The. error was made in the
specification. The contractors follow
ed the specifications, as they were I'M
der contract to 10. And the commit
tee commenting on this said:
t'-- The specifications were made
quate for the windward side Of tho
island, or should have been altered to
meet these conditions as they were en-
countered.i'
| II. +. Wiehman, chairman of the com
mittee, in speaking on this report be-
fore the chamber yesterday, empha-
sized the point that the committee hal
no scandal to reveal-that it had found
Ithe work done with all sincerity and
honesty by the contractor, and that the
| fault in the whole matter lay in as
summing, as apparently was done, that
the specifications for the sueeessful
lroad through Eeilehua district were
suitable aud adequate for KoolaupolSo,
The committee later on in its report
discovers that 35-ton traction engine
was rrn over the road ragainst the
protests Of the builder, and in spite Of
distractions which he has placed
across said road,v Later a lotion cat
terpillar engine, with raised eleatsl on
the wheels, tore into the surface of
the road. 2.r
May Have Helped WRECK Road
This, the committee feels, possibly
had its part in running the road, FOR
the passage Of these heavy engines
over it was made at time before the
road was ready for trafne. The nse
of heavy truck and engines ON county
roads means great deal to the de.
struction of the highways.
| What was not found in Koolaupoko
Ia scandal--was founder the sub,
stance Of one, at least lin Hakipun,
lwhere job.for-voters work was done,
Testing the county 1900,
/ r. Such waste cannot be too Sc
verely condemned, {" states the report
Regarding its HakipUu Investigation,
the committee said:
"For the purpose Of this report, the
road beginning at the end Of the com
pleted section Of belt road lust dealt
with. namely, from the bridge over
The Waiahole stream through Waikanc,
and as far as Kualoa, n distance or
IIsgGO feet will be considered as tnc
Liakipuu section. III $50
row Money Was Wasted
i 'eFrom the mass Of figures before
your committee it is somewhat dlilicnlt
j 10 arrive at the exact amount expend'
cd on this piece of road during 1918
l10l4, asyappropriations were made %
cover work on sections between this
and the Pail at the same time, but we
Itelieyc that figure approximatine
lSl1 .200.00, was actually spent on this
lseetion during that time, for which
the county received
i GA little grading between Waikanc
bridge and Kualoa, some eight or nine
cross drains, short stretch of telford
foundation, clearing Of weeds from
4 ditrhes, but no real road.
a'This system Of road building seems
Ia have been kept Up until q very re
cent date, viz the employment Of Q
I few lahOrers. whose duty 1t WAS -
shovel back the SOIL into the ruts made
by passing vehicles, and keeping ditch
les free from weeds.
"Without question this work has
been done on the old political nletho'
Of Jobs for the voters rather than by
Jobs for efficiency. ..
Waste Severely Condemned
"snch waste cannot he too severely
condemned. w, .sg
I. .alu this section, soil conditions AM
rainfall are practically identical will
that found in KooladPoko, thus mats
ing the selection Of road building ma
teriPl and methods a serious. problem
t'The present city engineer has Il
mind the bringing Of coral from thu
! Kahuku district, a material whiel
seems to have made a satisfactory
road over there, beginning cohstrue
tion at the western end and working
toward Waiahole. -. ~ .....@..1. q.
! ."Phis material has tho advantage o.
. . . a.,