STATEMENT BY GOVERNOR LINDA LINGLE ON MAYOR HANNEMANN’S SUPERFERRY COMMENT

Governor Linda Lingle issued the following statement today:

“In his campaign for higher office, Mufi Hannemann is trying to rewrite history.  His inaccurate comments regarding the Hawai‘i Superferry situation are both misinformed and patently false.

“It seems as if the Mayor was absent during the herculean efforts put forth by both the Legislature and my Administration to bring the Superferry to Hawai‘i.  In a historic Special Session of the Legislature, Senate President Hanabusa and House Speaker Say worked hand-in-hand with me and my team, as well as their colleagues in both houses, to ensure Hawai‘i residents had the benefit of a new mode of interisland transportation.

“With O‘ahu residents being the greatest beneficiaries of the Superferry, it is curious that Mayor Hannemann was noticeably absent from the discussion at the time.  Yet now, as is his nature, he wants to blame others. 

“The fact is that the decision to stop the Superferry was the result of a Supreme Court ruling which was a far-reaching interpretation that heretofore had never been applied to any new maritime operation in the state.”

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