Letters for Friday, March 23, 2007

• Public mulch pile is needed

• Put an end to pollution

• Waste fee is great idea

• Garbage pick-up fees aren’t the answer

• Has suggestions for Kansas

• In response to ‘Kansans for Superferry’

• Sponsored gambling?

Public mulch pile is needed

We, the gardeners on the south and Westside, recycle our green waste at the Hanapepe station. Last year, there was a grinding machine making mulch. It seemed to me the job lasted months. In the meantime, the public could not obtain mulch at all. I, however, saw huge trucks from Kaua‘i Nursery loading and removing it, but we, the providers of our green waste could not. Not even on the weekends when the machine wasn’t operating.

Now, March. The machine is at it again and again, we are barred from getting mulch. I was told the job would last until the end of May. That means at least three months with no mulch while the Kauai Nursery loads away.

Why can’t they provide the public with a pile from which we can help ourselves?

I was just wondering.

Kalaheo

Put an end to pollution

It was a nice sunny day in Kekaha until the smoke from a cane fire enveloped the neighborhood giving us headaches and wrecking an otherwise beautiful day.

The plantation will be burning every day, polluting our air and making us sick. Westside residents have the highest rate of asthma, emphysema, and cardio-pumonary diseases in the nation. And today was a no-burn day.

Why don’t you grow mangoes and food that is good for your health. Instead, you grow a crop that contributes to tooth decay and diabetes.

If sugar cane smoke makes you sick, call the Board of Health, 241-3323. When enough people care enough to object to their air being polluted then and only then will this pollution stop. How much do you care about your friends’ and families’ health? Do you care enough to put an end to pollution?

As for the 200+ jobs at stake, give the land back to the people who want to really farm it, not have it squatted on by a federally subsided poseur.

Kekaha

Waste fee is great idea

In regards to Connie Clausen’s letter about the waste fee … I think that this is a great idea. I remember as a child I would go to Long Island, NY, to visit my grandparents, and I remember them recycling and being very mindful about their trash.

I asked them why. I was surprised that they were charged for each trash can that was put out each month. The idea was so far-fetched to me at the time. But it really does make sense.

We as residents need to be more aware of how we deal with our waste. Recycling and better options should become part of our daily lives. There are a lot of creative ways (hope there aren’t many who are too lazy? Or don’t care?) to deal with waste.

The future doesn’t belong to us, it belongs to our children and the many generations to come. Why leave our waste problem for them to “deal with,” because we were too lazy to.

Kapa‘a

Garbage pick-up fees aren’t the answer

Connie Claussen wrote yesterday suggesting that the county should charge residents for garbage pick-up based on number of cans. While the idea is well-meaning, I would suggest that the effect would be that there will be more dumping in empty lots, off embankments and into commercial bins late at night. As residential property taxes pay for these services, they are hardly “free.” The fact that one can throw out as much as one needs to on a given night is important for health reasons as well. Some residents might choose to store garbage for extended times so they are not hit with additional charges. That will bring rats. Lastly, there would be higher incidence of garbage burning and burying.

I could go into the accounting issues with this plan such as the garbage men having to figure out what constitutes a can, who gets billed, the billing itself and actually getting the money from the resident. I understand that business owners want to save a few dollars but this is not the place to do it. The system is simple, let’s keep it that way.

Kalaheo

Has suggestions for Kansas

I get a kick out of reading these letters written by folks on the Mainland who have “suggestions” for us, such as Olathe, Kansas, resident Mary Morgan’s enthusisatic support of the Superferry.

I’m sure while she was here on vacation she gave our infrastructure problems a great deal of consideration. I visited Kansas once, and as someone who spent almost three days there, I think I know what’s best for them — they should expand the I-35 corridor to 16 lanes in both directions and run a new spur right through the center of Olathe. I’m sure if the plan includes 500 new condo units, and no environmental study, our local government will give it a thumbs up.

Kapa‘a

In response to ‘Kansans for Superferry’

I moved to Kaua‘i from Kansas. The decision was not based on the hope of riding with my car from island to island. I moved wanting to learn how to help people from these islands preserve the beauty and aloha that attracted me for many years as a vacationing visitor. The brevity of this recommendation from a fellow Kansan concerns me. Like many people coming to Hawai‘i the author does not sound as though she has spent much time understanding local culture. “Beauty” is the bait for travel agents to make a pretty easy sale.

As a transplanted Kansan my advice is, come to Kaua‘i to enjoy the beauty that has been preserved for you by local people. Experience firsthand the deep sense of commitment to their land and their family heritage. Come to meet local business owners and meet local people to get your own sense of the true beauty of this island. Get away from package deals. Use your time with those you are with to enjoy the preserved beauty and quietness at a pace that will leave you refreshed as you return home. Hawai‘i is a long way to come for a ferry ride. Do yourself a favor and drive to a state on the Mainland and have a ball on their ‘superferry”. It will be save you money and us the added traffic that dominates a day in Kaua‘i already.

Lihu‘e

Sponsored gambling?

Why is it that Big Save can sponsor poker gambling in their Lihu‘e parking lot?

‘Ele‘ele