Residents sound off on mounds of trash scattered along Hawaii Highway
By A’ali’i Dukelow
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MAUI, Hawaii (KITV) — Situated on the West Maui mountains, Kapuna Point offers a panoramic view of Haleakala on the opposite side of the island.
“It’s such a beautiful place to watch the sun rise or just hang out,” nearby resident Maile Viela described.
The scenery, however, has become tainted with mounds of trash over the past several months.
“If you just step out of the car and you look on the ground, and you look over, the hillside is covered with trash,” Viela said.
Illegal dumping has been an issue in the area for years, Viela said, but has recently gotten worse — as residents not only leave heaps of trash bags, but “beds and tires and car and shelves and car parts.”
Kapuna Point sits within the two-mile stretch of Kahekili Highway Viela and her family adopted, from Kapuna Bridge to Maluhia Country Ranches.
Viela and her husband named the portion of the roadway after their son Pono, who passed away 17 years ago when he was 3 years old.
The ‘ohana takes it upon themselves to clean up the highway, organizing community clean-up days.
Rep. Troy Hashimoto, who covers the area, commends the family for their efforts.
Hashimoto said he has been in talks with the county to address the issue, and proposed setting up a substation dump.
“For those of us who live in Wailuku, it is quite a drive to go to the landfill, and so I think they need to possibly look at other substations, they do have a substation in Olowalu for the West Maui folks,” Hashimoto added.
‘Ohana Viela is organizing another clean-up day, but a date has not been set yet.
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