Source: PATRICK T. FALLON / Getty
Hawaiians share that outsiders are already attempting to buy up land after the Maui fires. Native Hawaiians have been warning tourists against traveling to the islands for years now as resources for the locals are being sacrificed for the large tourism industry. Read more details about the Maui fires and how annoyed Hawaiian natives have become inside.
The devastating wildfires first erupted on the Hawaiian island of Maui Aug. 8. The fires have claimed the lives of at least 106 people and counting. One citizen recorded and published three videos to Facebook on Aug. 8 starting at 6:40 a.m., three minutes after authorities say they received the first report of the fire
People contribute the wildfires to a series of things such as faulty power lines and foreign grass, which was planted there to preserve farming and cultivate the land for livestock.
As the death toll of the Maui wildfires rise with countless others missing, several Hawaiians are sharing the news of outsiders who almost immediately started preying on survivors to buy up land and property around the historic town of Lahaina, which was all but decimated in the fires.
On the Instagram platform @daylaborernetwork, they shared an interview of one Lahaina resident named Paele Kiakona, who talks about how offensive the outsidersā actions are to the people who have lost it all.
āRealtors are calling families who lost everything, offering them to buy their property and their home for pennies on the dollar. Just pennies on the dollar,ā Kiakona shared in the video. āItās pretty offensive to us that people wonāt even give us the time to grieve properly. ā¦ People have lost family members. And for them to have that disrespect to come in and really try and buy things up is out of control.ā
There are more effective ways to support the locals of Maui during this time like donating to the countless platforms that directly benefit residents. Instead, these realtors are taking this unfortunate time to profit from their losses.
Check out resources collected at The Washington Post to support residents displaced by the tragic Maui wildfires here.
