Kokua Line
Kokua Line
Question: Whose responsibility is it to clean the grounds of the Waikiki Shell after a concert? I had people in from the mainland and drove by the Shell late Sunday afternoon, July 29. I pointed out to them that we go to concerts there and sit on the grass and picnic. When we passed by, the lawn area had trash all over it. I was embarrassed. I know that when I attend concerts, people always tend after themselves and throw their trash in the garbage cans. KCCN had their Birthday Bash at the Shell on July 28. Is this representative of how these concerts are going to be in the future? The worst part was that when we drove by there again late Tuesday afternoon, July 31, the trash was still all over the lawn. Doesn't this represent a health hazard? I passed by again on Thursday, Aug. 2, and the lawn was finally cleaned. Shell cleanup can
take a little timeAnswer: The city Department of Enterprise Services is responsible for all Shell operations, including cleanup and maintenance, according to deputy director Lynette Char.
Concert promoters or users are not involved in any post-concert cleanup.
About 8,500 people attended the Birthday Bash on July 28. No workers were scheduled to work the next day, Sunday, Char said. That following Monday, the Shell's two full-time and two part-time employees spent their time cleaning the Hula Show areas (bleachers, restrooms, entrances, walkways, grass) since a show was scheduled for Tuesday morning.
"They also removed any residual food from all Shell areas on Monday to preclude any health hazard issue," Char said.
Then, on the following Tuesday and Wednesday, the workers spent "considerable time and energy" cleaning facilities and clearing "the exceptionally large volume of trash" from the Shell proper. As you observed, by Thursday, everything was cleaned.
Several times a year, there are events at the Shell that require a several-day clean-up, Char said. When possible, workers from the Blaisdell Center help. Because of other events, this was not possible following the Birthday Bash, she said.
The Shell staff is proud of the facility and their professional performance, Char said. "Unfortunately for them and us, many of the patrons for this (Birthday Bash) and similar events prefer to 'let someone else clean it up.'"
Tackling toads
Star-Bulletin writer John Berger has a tip for residents with ponds or fountains plagued by toads (Kokua Line, Aug. 27): get gambusas, AKA mosquito fish. He said his father, Andrew Berger, chairman of the Zoology Department at the University of Hawaii-Manoa from 1965 into the 1970s, encouraged Berger and his sister to learn about the natural world, so he's picked up some useful facts."Many fish will eat amphibian egg strings as quickly as they'll eat mosquito larvae (or anything else they can catch and swallow)," he said. "A carnivorous fish large enough to swallow a tadpole will do so."
Another benefit, he said: "One of the things that reduces amphibian populations in some areas of the mainland is the practice of adding fish (like the 'mosquito fish') to ponds where there were no fish as a way of reducing mosquitos."
Plus, Berger says, adding mosquito-eating fish to ponds or reservoirs is more "eco-friendly" than using chemicals."
Mahalo
To Leanne Nakamura of Kaneohe for preserving Kualoa Regional Park. I read about her and other teen heroes in the August issue of Readers Digest. I fished and picked ogo there a long time ago. Thank you, Leanne, for keeping the park on par. -- Old-time fisherman
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