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Question: Human beings do need to urinate and defecate, and Walmart’s bathrooms were known as a place where homeless people could do so in proper toileting facilities. What’s going to happen now that the downtown store is closing?
Q: Is there any plan to expand public hygiene stations downtown once Walmart closes?
Q: With the closing of Walmart, the satellite police station in Chinatown has one of the few (perhaps only) public restrooms in the area. But it’s continuously “temporarily” closed for repairs. How can we get the Honolulu Police Department to escalate permanent repairs?
Q: Any chance the city or some other entity could keep the Walmart restroom open, with security, after the store closes?
Answer: Numerous readers have expressed concern about the permanent closure today of the Walmart at 1032 Fort Street Mall, where the general public could use the bathroom during store hours, which were 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. seven days a week.
We shared their concerns with the Honolulu mayor’s office, and while the city has no plan to keep Walmart’s restroom open, it is committed to preserving public access at a different site. Here’s spokesperson Ian Scheuring’s emailed response:
>> “The City is working on a plan to keep the restrooms at Mental Health Kokua on Pauahi Street open to the public. Mental Health Kokua will be relocating within the next three months, and that facility is being turned back over to the City’s Department of Land Management. Right now, members of the public need to request a key in the lobby of Mental Health Kokua and return the key after use. We will have a solution to this in place by the time Mental Health Kokua is relocated.”
>> “The Chinatown HPD Substation has a restroom that is open to the public, and anyone can enter the station and ask to access the restroom. Unfortunately, there are times when the restroom has had to be temporarily closed for maintenance or for repairs due to damage or vandalism.”
>> “There are facilities available for people experiencing homelessness at the Punawai Rest Stop on Kuwili Street, the Institute for Human Services on Sumner Street, and at A‘ala Park and Mother Waldron Park.”
>> “HieHie, the mobile hot shower program run by Project Vision, also provides services at Downtown and Chinatown parks. You can find more information here: projectvisionhawaii.org/oahu-hiehie.”
Q: Since the prescription drug drop-off doesn’t take needles, how do I dispose of the lancets and syringes I use to monitor and control my diabetes? The drop box at my drugstore won’t take them, either.
A: For a residential customer, this question falls under the category of household hazardous waste. Households with small quantities of medical sharps, which would include lancets and syringes used to manage diabetes, may encase medical sharps in “a rigid screw-top plastic container,” close the container tightly and place the container in the regular household trash, according to Honolulu’s Department of Environmental Services.
Residential customers with large quantities of any type of household hazardous waste must contact the city’s Refuse Division for disposal instructions.
Residential household instructions do not apply to businesses and industrial operations, which must follow state rules regarding the disposal of hazardous waste, ENV says.
You mentioned the prescription drug drop-off. That’s the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s semiannual National Take Back Initiative, during which people can dispose of prescription drugs, no questions asked; tablets, capsules, powders, liquids and other forms of medication will be accepted. The next event is Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at nine locations in Hawaii. Go to dea.gov/takebackday for details. As you mentioned, needles will not be accepted.
Write to Kokua Line at Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Suite 7-500, Honolulu, HI 96813; call 808-529-4773; or email kokualine@staradvertiser.com.
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