State APEC Costs below projections

News Release from www.Hawaii.gov/gov November 23, 2011

Honolulu – The State of Hawaii spent about $3,210,000 for safety related expenses hosting the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), less than half of the $7,500,000 projected by state agencies.

More than two-thirds of the funds were expended for activities conducted by the National Guard and State Civil Defense as hundreds of Hawaii National Guardsmen were activated to full-time status to provide security, crisis management, consequence management and work with the State Department. In addition, eight other State departments incurred costs related to APEC, much of which was also safety related.

For example:

• the Department of Health regularly took air samples of meeting places prior to ensure they were safe areas for large groups to gather,
• the Coast Guard was responsible for ocean security, but the Department of Land & Natural Resources stationed people on jet skis near the shore in Waikiki
• the Department of Transportation handled arrival and departures of dignitaries at the airport and managed the off and on closure of various roads and streets.

“It was a great week for Hawaii,” said Lieutenant Governor Brian Schatz who oversaw much of the APEC activities for the State. “The long term benefits, are enormous as we launch our Asia-Pacific strategy. Costs were lower than we had anticipated because the conference was run so efficiently.”

“We were prepared to spend more to protect people and property during APEC,” said State Adjutant General Darryl Wong, “but were able to avoid doing that because we had few problems. The security plan set in place by the Secret Service and local and Federal law enforcement officials was well thought out and effective.”

Overall, the related cost for the Hawaii National Guardsmen brought on to State active duty during APEC amounted to about $2,526,547; while costs for the State Civil Defense were about $84,000. Costs for all of the other State departments amounted to slightly less than $600,000.

These figures do not include contributions from OHA or the Hawaii Tourism Authority to the APEC 2011 Host Committee.

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