You are more than partners in the waste and fraud; you are the enablers

Dear Hawaii Senators and Representatives,   August 25, 2017

I hope that you will find five minutes to read my article on HART costs: The Hard Reality of Honolulu Rail Costs.

The disparity between the actual constructed or bid costs on one hand, and the overall costs presented by HART is way too large.  It is similar to buying a $20,000 vehicle and then the dealer charges you another $30,000 for delivery, fees, docs and taxes.

A major cause of this disparity is waste and fraud. You can't possibly approve more taxes for HART before you control waste and fraud. Otherwise you are more than partners in the waste and fraud; you are the enablers.

Aloha,

Dr Panos Prevedouros, PhD

Honolulu, Oahu

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HART Rail Costs Nearly Triple Rail Tunnel

Aloha,    August 13, 2017

I do not support raising Hawaii's excise tax across the board for all islands to fund the HART Project.  Doing so would be like requiring Southern California tax payers to fund San Francisco's rapid transit system (BART).  Find some other way to fund the completion of the HART project.

The Swiss built the Gotthard Base Tunnel, which consists of 94 miles of two track railway tunnels through solid granite rock under the Alps at a cost of $12 billion or $127 million per mile.

By comparison, the HART project, which consists of 34 miles of elevated railway with a hand full of stations, is projected to cost $12 billion or $353 million per mile.

Why has the HART project cost more than twice as much per mile as the much more complex Gotthard Base Tunnel project?

No one seems to be able to provide a good answer.

Accordingly, it is recommended that the Federal Government conduct an expedited forensic audit of HART's books before providing any more funds to the HART project.  The State of Hawaii should also refrain from providing funds to the HART project until the results of this audit are available.  Federal Government forensic auditors can do these types of forensic audits in months, not years so put this expertise to work now.  If corruption, collusion embezzlement or theft is discovered, those committing these crimes should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law and new players should be brought in to finish the project. 

This email has also been sent to Hawaii's US Senators and Representatives through their web portals.

Larry Bryan, Kamuela, Hawaii