Question: Auwe! People on my street follow the law. We all waited until the night before the scheduled “bulky pickup” to put our items at the curb, as the city instructs. About 10 days later the junk is still out there! No city crew has been through our neighborhood. The city says bulky pickup may take three to four days from the first scheduled pickup date. We’re still waiting. Even with the holiday, this is unacceptable. The city has got to get bulky pickup straightened out. We live in Hawaii Kai, but this happens in other neighborhoods, too.
Answer: Yours is one of several complaints Kokua Line has received from readers the past few days complaining that rubbish is piling up on curbs in Kalama Valley, Hawaii Kai and elsewhere in East Oahu. We contacted the city’s Department of Environmental Services. A spokesman said crews were out in those areas Thursday and might have the overdue work completed by the end of that day.
If that is not the case on your street, leave your bulky items out at the curb because crews will be in the scheduled areas as soon as they can. There will be no penalties for people whose items have been left out longer than allowed through no fault of their own, the spokesman said.
Complaints we’ve received recently have come from Sector 8, which includes Niu Valley, Kuliouou, Hahaione Valley, Hawaii Kai, Mariners Ridge, Portlock, Kalama Valley and Queen’s Gate.
Bulky item collection in that sector is scheduled for the fourth Wednesday of every month, which would have been June 27. As you noted, the city says pickup is conducted over a three- to four-day period from the scheduled date and that items should be put at the curb no earlier than the evening before. So, if the system worked as intended, bulky items would be gone within five days. That is not the case on your street and others, according to the complaints.
Q: A “neighbor” left their broken garbage bin in front of our easement area for bulky item pickup last month, and it was not picked up with the other items. It is time for pickup again, and the person did not remove it from the last pickup. Is there a number/email to contact to have the city pick up the discarded garbage bin?
A: Yes, assuming that you are referring to the type of bin used on the city’s automated collection routes. If that is the case, call the city’s refuse division at 768-3200 and press 1 once the recorded greeting begins, to report a broken cart.
That’s what your neighbor should have done, rather than leaving it out for bulky pickup.
Auwe
On the afternoon of July 3, I had the unfortunate experience of being stuck in a traffic jam inside the Don Quijote Kaheka parking structure. A driver decided to wait for a parked car to pull out of a stall whose driver decided to rearrange things in her trunk. Instead of pulling off to one side to allow drivers behind her to pass, she decided to wait smack dab in the middle of the main aisle, thereby blocking all other cars behind her for about five minutes. I knocked on her window to tell her to pull off to the side, but she motioned that she was waiting for the parked car to pull out and gave me the finger. Her intelligence, attitude and manners leave much to be desired. Her disregard for anybody else but herself is disgraceful. — D.H.
Mahalo
On June 30, while watching “Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom” at Consolidated Theatres Ward 16, a money clip slipped out of one our pockets. Full of cash, we thought it would be gone forever. A call to Consolidated Theatres proved us wrong. Someone had turned in the money clip with all the money intact. They did not leave their name. A big mahalo shout-out to that wonderful person with a good heart. — J.L.
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