Oahu homeless debris equal to 184 school buses
City officials hope to fill four more positions to enforce the city’s stored property and sidewalk nuisance ordinances — or what Mayor Kirk Caldwell calls “some of the dirtiest work in the City and County of Honolulu” cleaning up homeless encampments.
“It’s clear communities throughout Oahu would quickly be overcome with blight and unsanitary conditions should the Department of Facility Maintenance stop enforcing our stored property and sidewalk nuisance ordinances,” Caldwell said in a statement Wednesday. “Everyone in our island community must follow the law, and we will not allow our public spaces to be monopolized by any group. I particularly want to thank our hard-working SPO/SNO crew members. These dedicated city employees start work in the middle of the night and deal with some of the dirtiest work in the City and County of Honolulu. I’d also like to thank our men and women of the Honolulu Police Department for their dedication and perseverance in this never-ending job.”
Since the city began enforcing the stored property and sidewalk nuisance ordinances on Jan. 2, 2013, Department of Facility Maintenance crews have collected more than 4.6 million pounds of trash and debris from city areas.
The city on Wednesday estimated that the load would be the equivalent of:
>> 184 school buses weighing 25,000 pounds each.
>> Twice the height of the Eiffel Tower if the buses were stacked on top of each other, equaling 1,932 feet.
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>> Using the buses to trace Diamond Head Trail both ways, or 1.6 miles.
In addition to trash and debris, crews also gathered 3,229 cubic yards of metals; 14,276 shopping carts; and 3,779 storage bins.
At the same time, 4,858 tickets were issued for stored property ordinance violations and another 1,436 tickets were issued for sidewalk nuisance violations.
The city said the Department of Facility Maintenance is requesting an additional $1.6 million in funding for the 2020 fiscal year operating budget to replace aging vehicles, including $1.09 million for vehicles to remove and dispose of materials and debris; and $575,000 for five utility crew cab trucks for corporation yards.
