Kokua Line
June Watanabe
Contractor has plan
to clean unsightly
mess in Aina HainaQuestion: There is a lot on what must be city land near Aina Haina Elementary School, adjacent to 739 West Hind Drive, that was used as a storage for heavy machinery, old asphalt, etc., when Kalanianaole Highway was stripped and resurfaced recently.
The contractor who was allowed to use it left it in a pretty sorry state because about half the area now has asphalt instead of grass, which was there before they used it. It also has other chemicals such as oil as they serviced the heavy machinery, too.
When is the company responsible for the mess going to clean it up and return it to the way it was before they used it?
Answer: The property is owned by the state Department of Education, not by the city.
It was allowed to be used as a storage area during the Kalanianaole Highway project based on an agreement between the school and a subcontractor, Highway Construction Co., according to Scott Ishikawa, spokesman for the state Department of Transportation.
At a meeting Monday, transportation officials were informed that Highway Con- struction would be using another company to remove the gravel, lay topsoil and "hydromulch" the area, he said.
The cleanup, which was to begin by next week, is not expected to take more than a week. After that, it would take another week to lay the topsoil and mulch, Ishikawa said.
The Highways Division will monitor the cleanup, he said.
Q: A couple of years ago, there was an announcement that a new shipper of vehicles between Hawaii and the mainland would be entering the market soon. The firm was planning on using a purpose-built ship and would offer much lower rates than offered by Matson and Sea-Land (now called CSX Lines). What ever happened to this?
A: Pasha Hawaii Transport Lines recently issued a news release saying it has resumed construction of a 579-foot ship designed specifically to transport cars and trucks from the West Coast to Hawaii.
The new delivery date is now set for the fall of 2004.
The ship, the Jean Anne, was to have been completed last fall, but construction was halted when the owner of the shipyard where it was being built declared bankruptcy.
The shipyard in Pascagoula, Miss., was then acquired by VT Halter Marine. Pasha Hawaii reached a new agreement with VTHM to build two vehicle transport ships, the Jean Anne and an identical vessel to be completed in 2005.
Each ship will be able to accommodate 4,300 vehicles. Each also will be able to carry "Over, High and Wide cargoes" as well as trailers and containers of various sizes, according to Pasha Hawaii.
Pasha Hawaii Transport Lines is a joint venture of the Pasha Group, based in California, and Van Ommeren Shipping (USA) LLC, of Connecticut.
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