Letters 1-9-14

Beautiful island, but litter is awful

Beautiful island, but litter is awful

As a frequent visitor to the Big Island, I can say that I love being here and I love the natural beauty of the island. However, I have one problem with this place and that is an increasing amount of litter and some that never seems to get picked up.

Case in point: Just east of Waikoloa Village on Waikoloa Road, there is a sofa sitting on the western side of the road on a bit of a mound. It is been there for a couple of years. Either the state should force the landowner to move it or the state should pick it up. It’s an eyesore.

Secondly, at Puako boat ramp a few days ago, my wife overheard the groundskeeper say that he’s finding all sorts of valuables such as jewelry and even wallets, which he says he always gives back, but meanwhile he was just talking and not working. Puako boat ramp around the edges has tons of litter and has had for at least a year. Why the man couldn’t go out and pick up trash instead of just gabbing is beyond me.

I believe the solution is for the state to begin educating the next generation in the public schools about the importance of taking care of their own island and and not only not littering but helping pick up other people’s trash — something I like to do when I’m at the beach.

Even though I’m just a visitor, I want to make this place better than when I arrived.

Bob Waliszewski

Colorado

Hapuna Beach needs more maintenance

Yesterday I was at Hapuna Beach. All the parking lots were full. There were about 100 cars parked outside the gate. The beach was packed with visitors, many who had paid $5 to visit this great beach. A friend from Oahu reported that the women’s bathroom was disgusting. This is possibly the last thing a visitor is going to remember about Hapuna, funky bathrooms. Why can’t the Parks Department get this right?

How about adding more maintenance people for crowded days? How about building more adequate bathrooms?

The park must have collected thousands of dollars in parking fees on that one day.

Lynn Beittel

Waimea