RECYCLING

AGAIN, 5-CENT DEPOSIT DOESN'T BELONG TO US

Lee Cataluna's column ("What about our 5-cent deposit fee?" Sept. 9) was spot on.

I thought I was the only one concerned about our 5-cent deposit, which once again does not belong to us. How naive does the government think we are?

I thought it was the law that we must pay the 5-cent deposit on plastic, aluminum and glass beverage bottles and we are to be refunded that same amount. Obviously, our neighborhood recycling centers don't know it, because they still insist on weighing our bottles and cans.

Yes, I'm all for recycling programs, but why doesn't the government ever lay it out on the table exactly how it affects us? Thank you, Lee, for always laying it out on the table for those out there who might not have thought about it.

CATALUNA GOT IT RIGHT IN COLUMN ON DEPOSIT FEE

Lee Cataluna's column concerning the 5-cent deposit fee was right on the money.

It is just another tax on the consumer, with the money going to the city.

Why are we paying taxes for garbage pickup, and again for recycling cans and bottles?

911

RESIDENT RECOUNTS UNNERVING EXPERIENCE

Sally H. Rivera of Kane'ohe should be applauded for her Sept. 4 letter about 911 service.

Common courtesy and respect seem to be seriously lacking with some of the 911 operators.

Recently, there was a disturbance at the home I was visiting in Kapahulu. It escalated to a point where we couldn't hear each other talk, so my aunty called 911 asking for police to check into it.

Nearly an hour later nothing seemed to change, so I called.

Before I could finish my question, the female 911 operator berated me for calling. She told me an officer had already investigated, and that they could not keep tying up the officer's time. She said that two other people had already called.

Her condescending tone was misplaced. I had no way of knowing an officer had been there, nor that other people had called.

The operator went on to tell me that even if another officer were to be sent, there was nothing he could do.

I asked for her supervisor. When he came on the line he had no idea what was going on because the operator transferred the call as a blind transfer so there was no way he would know who transferred the call.

He then said he could listen to the tapes if I wanted him to, and follow up with the operator from there.

The experience was so unnerving that I can understand why people, especially seniors, are reluctant to call for help.

SUPERFERRY

ARE O'AHU RESIDENTS SO DANGEROUS TO KAUA'I?

I read JoAnn Yukimura's Island Voices column on Sept. 6 concerning the Superferry and "why we are trying to keep Kaua'i Kaua'i."

Does she think the invading hordes from O'ahu, which is the general picture created in the commentary, are going to arrive on a mission to deplete the fish, limu and maile and then over-run parks, harming the land, people and culture?

Let's get real here — take for example the trip I had planned on the Superferry to Kaua'i on Sept. 9.

I was going to visit my brother, who lives on Kaua'i. I was going to bring my bike and my one-man outrigger canoe. We were going to ride bikes and paddle together for a week.

Am I that big a danger to Kaua'i? I don't see barnacles and assorted "invasive species" all over my canoe — but I'll bet they are all over those big cruise ships that pull in to Nawiliwili.

I'm still coming to Kaua'i to visit my brother. Now I'm coming on a $9 airfare, won't be buying any gas on Kaua'i for my car that I would have brought in, and I certainly will attempt to put as little money as I can into the Kaua'i economy.

Instead of biking and paddling, we will be swimming and trail running. Hope I don't have invasive species on my running shoes.

Perhaps JoAnn should take a serious look at all that development over in the Po'ipu area. There's your invasive species: the developers who are making Kaua'i look a bit like O'ahu.

ALARMING SURFERS CAN BREACH SECURITY ZONE

The ability of a group of people on surfboards to breach Nawiliwili Harbor's federally mandated security zone and prevent the Hawaii Superferry from docking is alarming.

Methinks that surfing schools everywhere must be warned: If people start showing up for surfing lessons, but only want to learn how to paddle and splash, better report them to the feds as al-Qaida suspects.

DON'T COMPLAIN ABOUT PADDLING DISRUPTIONS

So you say the Superferry will disrupt your canoe paddling schedule? Where I live, we can't even use our beaches.

HOW DARE ACTIVISTS TELL OAHUANS NOT TO VISIT

How dare this small group of Kaua'i activists come to O'ahu and tell their neighbors on O'ahu they should not be able to come and visit with their cars or otherwise on the Superferry.

How dare one of their members blatantly state on television that we are thieves, and if we come to visit they will have to lock up their surfboards.

How dare another of their members accuse us of being destroyers of their land and their island.

How quickly these few selfish neighbors from Kaua'i have forgotten where most of the help came from when Hurricane Iniki tore apart their lives. Or were they even there?

These people really can't be akamai. Not when they say what they do.

WHY DO KAUAIANS HATE THE REST OF US SO MUCH?

I can understand why people I don't know hate me because I am an American or because I'm a haole.

But I am having trouble understanding why people on Kaua'i who don't know me hate me because I live in Honolulu and might want to take the ferry to visit their parks or beaches.

Is it OK if I come by plane? Or on a big cruise ship?

By the way, you are always welcome here no matter how you travel.

RECYCLING

PUBLIC SHOULD DEMAND REPEAL OF BOTTLE BILL

Now that the city is finally implementing curbside recycling, it is time to repeal the bottle bill.

The bottle bill program takes a lot out of our state's economy. According to a Department of Health report to the 2007 Legislature, almost $94 million has been diverted out of our economy from the time the law started in October 2002 until July 1, 2006. We paid a total of $23.4 million in the nonrefundable fee, which is currently 1-cent per container.

Repeal of the bottle bill will allow tens of millions of dollars to remain in our economy, which will help to keep our economy robust. It will also ensure that the city's curbside recycling program will receive the most valuable recyclable item — aluminum cans.

The time has come for Hawai'i residents to demand that their legislators repeal this burdensome law.

LANDFILL

WHY DOES WAI'ANAE HAVE TO BEAR BURDEN?

At the Nanakuli town meeting attended by Mayor Mufi Hannemann on Aug. 28, he stated that without an extension the current landfill is scheduled to close next year.

If that happens, he has no idea where it will go, but the odds are one of three Wai'anae Coast locations would be selected.

Why Wai'anae? Has an environmental impact statement been completed for the three possible sites? Has the impact of having hundreds of large trucks, on a daily basis, taxing an already overburdened, not to mention dangerous, stretch of roadway been studied? Has any other site, other than those on the Leeward Coast, been realistically looked at as a viable alternative? And if not, why not?

I'm sure Mayor Hannemann heard the message loud and clear in Nanakuli. Let's just hope he listens to it.