City fells cemetery trees that hid homeless people

Question: Do you know why many of the trees at Kaahumanu Cemetery, at the corner of Kapalama Avenue and School Street in Kalihi, were cut down?

Question: I live near the intersection of School Street and Kapalama Avenue. About a month ago all the trees in the Hawaiian cemetery were cut down by I don’t know what agency. The trees had been there for over 50 years. Can you find out who cut them and why now? Tree rot?

Answer: The city Department of Facility Maintenance removed the trees because of problems with homeless people camping there and desecrating grave sites, some of which date back more than a century.

There actually are three cemeteries in that location, and it was only last year that the city realized the parcel at the mauka-Diamond Head corner of School and Kapa­lama was not only its responsibility to maintain, but also had a name: Maluhia Cemetery.

In recent years at least, only two names have been used to identify the old Hawaiian grave sites: the fenced-in Kaahumanu Cemetery at Kapalama and Alani Street, maintained by ‘Aha­hui Ka‘ahumanu (aka the Kaahumanu Society, one of four Hawaiian Benevolent Royal Societies), and Puea Cemetery, adjacent to Malu­hia, along School Street to the United Public Workers building, maintained by the state Department of Accounting and General Services.

A driveway from School Street is the dividing line between the state and city properties.

The city’s maintenance of Maluhia Cemetery began with complaints about the condition of the grave sites, including by an elderly woman, whose brother is buried there, who wrote to former Mayor Peter Carlisle, then-Councilwoman Tulsi Gabbard and Gov. Neil Abercrombie, said Raoul Self, superintendent of road maintenance for the Department of Facility Maintenance’s Hono­lulu district.

Self said that when he began investigating ownership of the property, he found “all kinds of different names.” But different people provided key information, including old maps of the area and the name Maluhia.

He then researched the city’s Tax Map Keys and “found out Maluhia was our portion.”

When he personally went to check the cemetery, Self found only one person camped there, although there was evidence that others came and went.

The homeless were using trees, which had formed a natural border between the city and state parcels, as their “tie-down” campsite, Self said. He found evidence of open fires, plus broken glass, human feces and trash, as well as damaged crosses and headstones.

“It was a total mess,” he said.

On top of that, although some unknown person in the past had been maintaining the area, there was a lot of overgrown foliage, while trees were uprooting the concrete borders around some grave sites.

Self said a contract has been issued to have the grass and plants cut and maintained monthly, and his plan is to erect a chain-link fence with three entry points for visitors. He also plans to post signs identifying that parcel as Maluhia Cemetery.

The state does not plan to erect its own fence, but is looking into the costs of also posting a sign to identify its cemetery, according to a spokes­man for DAGS.

One positive result of the tree removal: Grass is now growing where there was only dirt, Self said. “We’ve received many praises now that the grass has returned.”

We visited the site last week and found all three cemeteries kempt, the aging headstones and markers offering a nostalgic piece of Hono­lulu history.

Mahalo

Belatedly, to EMS and HFD for their rapid response on Dec. 28. My husband (a diabetic and a large man) was experiencing some chest discomfort and nausea that turned out to be a heart attack. Because of their quick response and manpower, he was carried out of our second-floor walk-up condo. He’s now on the mend after heart surgery. — Grateful Moiliili/Manoa Resident

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