HONOLULU -- A high-tech, state-of-the-art emergency mobile command unit that cost $700,000 has sat idle for 2 1/2 years after it arrived in Hawaii.

KITV found out that most of the vehicle was paid for with federal Homeland Security money. The $700,000, 48-foot-long, 16-foot wide trailer is supposed to be Hawaii's mobile communication command center in the event of a major disaster.

Lt. Shawn Tsuha of the Sheriff's Division of the Public Safety Department is in charge of the command post vehicle.

"It provides for the leadership to know what's going down on the ground but not be in that area," he said.

There is a second room, where people like the governor, the public safety director, the mayor and other top officials can meet and decide how to respond to a large incident. It has never been put to the test.

The plaque on the front of the trailer is stamped April 2007, when it was manufactured on the mainland. It arrived in Hawaii a few months later.

"Has this ever actually gone out anywhere yet?" KITV 4 News reporter Keoki Kerr asked.

"No. Other than it coming over here, it's just been right here," Tsuha said.

There was some work to be done on the trailer once it arrived on Oahu. The first step was installing a communications system. That process, from bids to installation, took about a year.

"It's very frustrating, but knowing the system, we have to work within the system, we have to be good stewards of the taxpayers' money, we have to follow procurement laws," Tsuha said.

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The next step is to find a way to get it from Point A to Point B. That is where a used tractor truck came in. The Sheriff's Division bought it for $6,000 because a new tractor truck would have cost at least $80,000.

"We couldn't afford a new tractor and a trailer, we had to work within our budget. Because we spent most of the monies purchasing this and outfitting it, then we didn't have what we thought would cover a new tractor."

What was a bargain turned into an unexpected expense. It cost $20,000 more in repair work to ensure it would be reliable and strong enough to tow the massive trailer.

The tractor truck is at Contractor's Equipment and Service Corp. in Mapunapuna, still sitting nearly a year and a half later. Although the tractor is drivable, it needs some work, mechanics said. The truck's transmission requires servicing and its clutch and brakes need to be replaced, among other things.

"We pretty much have spent two years trying to get the tractor approved for repair. Once again, at the division level, we've pretty much done everything possible to get the paperwork approved, and then release the monies," Tsuha said.

Sheriff's officials told KITV that administrators lost the repair paperwork twice, and they had to resubmit it to higher-ups at the Public Safety Department a third time. It was just approved in early January, using money from drug forfeitures. That is because the process dragged on so long that Homeland Security money they had hoped to apply for lapsed. The tractor truck should be ready to go within the next month or so, officials said.

In the meantime, sheriffs have an agreement with the repair shop to drive the tractor from Mapunapuna to the trailer at Honolulu Harbor in an emergency. That is because the cab is not broken. It just needs some upgrades.

"If an earthquake happened right now, and this thing had to go out, how quickly could you get it out?" Kerr asked.

"It would take us at least 45 minutes to get it out, at least, and that's assuming he can get here," Tsuha said.

That means streets and highways are clear and are not blocked by downed utility lines or that traffic is not at a standstill with street lights out or gridlock as people head for higher ground if a hurricane or tsunami is on the way.

The $700,000 trailer is stored just steps away from the ocean in a Honolulu Harbor warehouse, where it could be affected by surge or flooding from a tsunami.

"What if it's a tsunami, right? I mean, we're right by the ocean," Kerr asked.

"Exactly, and that's why we needed to get it out of this location eventually. It's just that the state never had an asset like this, and nobody ever planned to put this anywhere," Tsuha said.

Tsuha said plans are underway to move the trailer to a secure location away from the waterfront.

"It appears a little keystone cops," Senate Public Safety Committee Senator Will Espero said. "It's incredible that the personnel and the leadership within the department did not make this a No. 1 priority."

Sheriffs have complained to him that public safety officials focus more attention, money and resources on prisons and corrections costs than on law enforcement and sheriffs' priorities. That is one reason the project has languished for so long, Espero said.

"It appears like they're very disorganized, very incompetent or just don't have a clue what's going on," Sen. Will Espero said.

If an earthquake or storm takes out phone lines and cell phone service, the only way to communicate with the rest of the world is via satellite. While the trailer has a satellite dish, the state has not installed that yet, because it comes with pricey maintenance service.

That could take another six months to put out to bid and complete. Officials said that the tractor truck should be repaired in the next month to six weeks.

Then officials can get accurate weight and height measurements for the entire vehicle plus the cab so that they can obtain proper auto registration and insurance. Only then will it be truly ready to respond to emergencies.