Lahaina town has been the draw card and assembly place for every visitor to Maui over past years.

Visitors were intrigued by the former whaling town and served by shops filled with local crafts sold in fun, colorful stores, any of which were made on Maui by small biz and families, making Lahaina the main retail location to sell to 2.4 million visitors yearly.

Most operated away from the high-rent district and scattered in more affordable homes or low-rent commercial space in old town Wailuku with Lahaina town sales their bread and butter.

The Lahaina fire impacted all on Maui, not just local retail outlets.

Exit Lahaina visitor business and every small biz except rebuild construction teams are in trouble.

These are our exact circumstances, but the Maui fire fund claims administrators declined our application as we were deemed “outside the designated fire zone.”

This is unfair and needs review and correction.

This means the retailer selling “made in China is covered” and the artisan made on Maui is penalized, as well as all the co-workers. This is wrong and makes no sense.

Roy D. Wemyss
Wailuku