Question: Along Moenamanu Street in Mililani, fronting Kipapa playground, there is a growing pile of illegally dumped items. There are two sofas, one mattress, and the newest addition is a toilet! Currently, the toilet has feces in it! This is the area where Mililani Middle School students wait for their morning bus and get dropped off in the afternoon. This is adjacent to a playground where young children play. It is absolutely unsafe, unsanitary and unacceptable! I made a report on the city and county illegal-dumping report site. It has been reported to the Mililani Town Association. I am wondering what needs to be done to get this rubbish removed. It started sometime in February, and it is now the end of March. Please let me know what we can do to get this taken care of. It’s a truly big Auwe!
Answer: You did your part by reporting illegal dumping to the city, and we’ve followed up to confirm a complaint was received. We expect this junk will be removed shortly, but suggest that you follow up with the city if it’s not gone by the end of the week. We received your question Friday, emailed the city Monday and received the following response Tuesday from Harold Nedd, a spokesperson for the city Department of Customer Services:
“The Department of Customer Services tracks complaints that have been formally reported to the city via email (complaints@honolulu.gov), phone call (808-768-4381) or via the Honolulu 311 app.
“The department’s Customer Care Section found the complaint you referenced listed under a nearby street, not Moenamanu. Our records show that the complaint was submitted via the city’s 311 app by an anonymous customer, and it was routed directly to the Department of Facility Maintenance’s Division of Road Maintenance as Illegal Dumping for Non- Residential.
“The complaint was recorded as case number CAS-76148-B2C4R9; submitted on 3/20/25; and the case remains open.
“As for a follow-up, customers are asked to allow departments 10 business days for a response; however, if a customer contacts our Customer Care Section for an update, an immediate follow-up request is made to the relevant department.”
Ten business days after March 20 would be Friday, April 4, because March 26 was Prince Kuhio Day, a state and city holiday.
When we followed up with you about the city’s response, you said you had mentioned Moenamanu Street in your complaint, so perhaps more than one person reported this mess. The street, which runs between Kuahelani Avenue and Kipapa Drive, is near Kipapa Neighborhood Park. At any rate, the city department responsible for disposal is aware of the problem.
We also called the Mililani Town Association and left a message for the general manager, who was out of the office Tuesday. Although the city is the primary contact for this problem, we want to ask the association about any concerns or suggestions it has regarding illegal dumping.
Q: Some time ago Kokua Line printed the number of people who had gotten retroactive payments under the Social Security Fairness Act. I still not have received mine. I am already in the system, so I didn’t need to apply. When will they finish issuing back payments?
A: By early November, according to the Social Security Administration, which updated its website Tuesday to say that staff are now manually updating records for complex cases, which take much longer to process than simpler cases that were expedited using automation and have been paid. The agency will release retroactive benefits and send new monthly benefit amounts as it processes each case “with the expectation that all beneficiary records will be updated by early November,” the website says. The agency began paying retroactive payments in late February, and by March 28 had automatically processed 2.3 million cases, or 75% of the accounts that needed to be adjusted, it said. For more information about the SSFA and whom it affects, go to ssa.gov.
Write to Kokua Line at Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Suite 2-200, Honolulu, HI 96813; call 808-529-4773; or email kokualine@staradvertiser.com.
