TRASH AND THE CITY

July  14, 2013   -   Honolulu, HI

City fails to pick up trash at several housing complexes, leaving  thousands exposed to stench and unhealthy conditions.    

By  Carroll Cox

Update 8/3/13 - the Honolulu StarAdvertiser runs a story about trash pickup.  Link here to story.

Members of several Oahu communities say the recent television fluff  pieces featuring Mayor Kirk Caldwell don't meet the smell test. In fact,  they say the mayor's administration's handling of trash service and  disposal literally stinks to high heaven.   Some of the communities are Waipio, Mililani, Ewa, Ewa Beach, Waianae, Kapolei, Kunia, Nanakuli and Makakilo.  

We understand the City and County of Honolulu has  approximately seven front end loaders in its fleet but only two of those are functional and the others are out of commission.  One working truck assigned to the Middle Street Base yard services routes in metro Honolulu. It is then used by the drivers in the Pearl City district to pick up trash in the above listed areas.  These areas are generally serviced  twice a week but recently the routes have only been serviced once a week, leaving garbage to sit in the bins, smelling up the residential areas and attracting flies, rats and other pests.  Some of the homeowners explained that their areas are generally serviced Monday and Thursday, Tuesday and Friday or Wednesday and Saturday.  The routes scheduled for last Thursday were not picked up. and will be picked up this coming Monday at the earliest.   These delays result in the drivers getting automatic overtime pay because the late pickups are not regularly scheduled pickups.  This is costing the taxpayer money for poor service as well as presenting unhealthy and unsightly conditions.

We drove around some of the areas and found that all of them had trash sitting on the curb or in the bins waiting to be dumped.  Some of the apartment or condo complexes are the Arbors in Ewa Beach, Palm Villas, Ewa Villages and the Ewa Lani Villages.   We also observed large amounts of bulky waste that residents also report are not being picked up in a timely manner.

 

 

Part of the problem, the City and County of Honolulu purchased a large fleet of automated trash trucks but failed to acquire new front end loaders to keep up with the demand in these areas.  In addition, as we previously reported, a couple years back they bought at least seven side loader trucks that were too small for the crew to use.  What happened to those trucks?  Why didn't they exchange them for the front loader trucks they so desperately need?

We believe the mayor's trash honeymoon and show and tell escapades are about to abruptly come to an end.   Many of the complexes have the bins sitting close to homes, either right in their front doors or just feet away from their housing units.  The Mayor must immediately acquire  a sufficient number of front end loader tucks to address the potential health risk to these communities.

Link here to the story reported on KHON NEWS - Monday July 15.

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