Kokua Line
By June Watanabe
Thursday, November 19, 1998
Kokua Line
Is it the state or the private concession of Pu'uhonua that's responsible for maintaining the beach at Malaekahana State Recreation Area? I have never seen this beach, between Laie and Kahuku, in such bad shape. The Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) was notified, but nothing has been done. The restrooms and beach in front of the rental cabins are clean. What happened to the rest of the beach? Windward beach suffers
as nets pile up on shoreYours was one of many complaints received over the past several months, said Ralston Nagata, state parks administrator with DLNR, which oversees Malaekahana.
Although you specified an area fronting the smaller state grounds at Malaekahana, "the area of primary concern, from calls we received, was fronting the private residences," he said.
He also said a check this week of the area you cited showed no debris. The state land at Malaekahana is divided by private property.
When the beach needs cleaning, the state calls the city's road division, Nagata said. "They've been quite responsive," he said.
"We kokua," said a supervisor for the Laie yard of the city Road Maintenance Division, which oversees the area from Waimea to Kaaawa.
But the problem is a shortage of workers -- the division is responsible not only for the regular maintenance of roads, but storm drains and ditches as well -- and an unusual amount of marine debris, notably cargo nets, the last few months.
"Somebody's dumping (the nets) out in the ocean," he said. "They keep coming in and coming in," washing ashore along the windward coast. "We've been picking them up, picking them up. Whatever we can pick up by hand, we've been picking up."
But he said the debris now along Malaekahana is too heavy for workers to clear out by hand. He was awaiting the availability of a trackloader and could not give a definite date for the cleanup.
Meanwhile, although the beach is not part of the state park, "we try to clean" the area directly fronting the park, Nagata said.
As for the concessionaire, the state leases one of its two campgrounds to the Friends of Malaekahana, which offers public recreation and Hawaiiana programs.
To the driver of a white Chevy Blazer who blatantly made an illegal left turn at 6:50 a.m. Oct. 9 and almost hit our car. We were going east on Kahekili, crossing Likelike, when he, traveling west, suddenly turned left in front of us. We almost crashed into the center divider. A big auwe to the police officer in the green Ford Explorer who was behind me but kept on going. -- Concerned mother Auwe
Call 587-3222 if you think a business is engaged in false or deceptive advertising. The wrong number was given yesterday. Corrected number
Need help with problems? Call Kokua Line at 525-8686,
fax 525-6711, or write to P.O. Box 3080, Honolulu 96802.
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