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/