Dive Brief:
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After two months in mothballs, construction of the $1.4 billion Thirty Meter Telescope will resume on Wednesday despite protests from native Hawaiians who have said the location is sacred land.
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The telescope will be one of the world’s largest once its construction on Hawaii’s Big Island is complete in 2022. The site on Mauna Kea reportedly is one of the best places in the world for viewing the sky and beyond.
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Protesters, who claim the mountaintop site is a burial ground for their ancestors, started disrupting construction in October. In April, they blocked construction crews and equipment from accessing the job site. At least 31 protesters were arrested before the nonprofit organization overseeing the project shut it down.
Dive Insight:
Last month, Hawaii Gov. David Ige officially announced his support of the project. Henry Yang, chair of the TMT International Observatory Board, said in a statement that the organization will “be better stewards and better neighbors during our temporary and limited use of this precious land.”
The first order of business on Wednesday, however, is an inspection of the site and equipment, which has been idle since April, to determine if protesters caused any damage. Contractors did not install a fence around the construction zone until after protesters began approaching it.
