Remove ImagesThe Maui 10
Who's the county's most powerful player?
November 01, 2007
Just like that, with no fanfare, celebration or grand publicity drive, A&B subsidiary Matson Navigation Co. will raise the fuel surcharge it slaps on all shipping to Hawai`i and Guam from 24 to 26 percent. The reason? Because it can! And rising oil prices, but mostly because it can. "We are experiencing record highs in fuel-related costs that are being driven by unprecedented demands for oil in the world market," Matson senior vice president Dave Hoppes said in a statement quoted in an Oct. 19 online Pacific Business News story. In case you're interested, crude oil stands at about $90 a barrel. Is it any wonder Tesoro would rise on this kind of news as well, but where do you go when you're already at the top of the chart?
RANK PREVIOUS COMPANY
1 1 Tesoro Hawai`i
2 3 Alexander & Baldwin
3 2 Monsanto Hawai`i
4 4 Dowling Co.
5 6 Weinberg Foundation
6 5 Maui Land & Pineapple Co.
7 7 Wailuku Water Co.
8 8 Goodfellow Brothers
9 9 Maui Electric Co.
10 10 Hawaiian Telcom
LAND RUN!
And Maui Land & Pine drops a notch this week on the news (first posted on mauitime.com way back on Oct. 18!) that County Council member Jo Anne Johnson has introduced a bill calling for a moratorium on all development on West Maui ag lands. Now Johnson has put forth county-wide moratoriums before, and all have been filed under O for Oblivion—which is why ML&P, with all its future West Maui development plans, just dropped one notch—but there is reason to think this bid may go a bit further. Mostly, that anti-development fury, especially on the Westside where continued building has turned the roads into used car lots, rises a little more each day. Development in general—be it the Superferry, Honolua Bay, North Beach, Ukumehame or Makena—just doesn't have the popular appeal it once did. Whether the rest of the County Council agrees, of course, is completely unknown. MTW