LIHUE, Hawaii — A landowner on Kauai has at last received state permission to build his house atop 30 ancient Hawaiian graves.

The approval of Joseph Brescia’s 16th draft of his burial treatment plan by the State Historic Preservation Division came this week, after it was rejected by the Kauai/Niihau Island Burial Council.
Division Administrator Pua Aiu says the 16th draft provides “adequate protection” to the burials. She cited concrete caps over a number of them and special vertical buffers for one burial that sits under the spot that will one day be the home’s driveway.
The state’s decision is opposed by Hawaiian cultural practitioner Puanani Rogers, who called it “outrageous.” She says everyone except the division knows you’re not supposed to build on a graveyard.
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Information from: The Garden Island, http://www.kauaiworld.com/