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Groups of native Hawaiians are protesting in order to stop scientists from building the largest telescope in the world on top of a mountain the natives consider sacred.
The people have submitted petitions to the governor of Hawaii so that he puts an end to the construction of the massive telescope on top of the sacred Mauna Kea Mountain.
The mountain is almost 4,200 meters high above the sea level, which makes it the ideals place for building the telescope.
According to the scientists, the massive telescope was designed to be used for astronomical events in the northern hemisphere.
Although this is not the first telescope to be built on Mauna Kea, the native Hawaiians protest against the construction of the massive telescope, known as the “Thirty Meter Telescope” or TMT, one the peak of the mountain.
Several people have been arrested during the protests and construction work on the telescope has been postponed.
The local people, along with hundreds of students and professors from the University of Hawaii are on the street protesting together against the construction of the biggest telescope in the world.
The governor of Hawaii, David Ige, has announced the temporary cancelation of the project but hasn’t made any public statements on whether the construction will start again.
The protesters have gathered more than 53,000 signatures from people who are against the construction of the massive telescope and sent the petition to the governor.
The people began protesting last month in March, and since then, more than thirty protesters have been arrested.
The trials are scheduled for April 28 and May 7, but the protesters have requested the charges to be dropped.
Kealoha Pisciotta, one of the leaders of the protest, said that innocent people are arrested for trying to protect their mountain.
While tens of thousands of protesters have signed the petition asking the governor to put an end to the project, the scientists involved in the project said that they have the legal right to start building the telescope on the Mauna Kea mountain.
The people involved in the TMT project stated that they have all the necessary approvals to begin the construction of the telescope.
The TMT project is a collaborative effort between the United States, Canada, China, India and Japan.
According to those involved in the project, the cost of the telescope is estimated at approximately $1.4 billion and is expected to make significant astronomical discoveries and observations.
Image Source: kpbs
