Waikiki Homeless Move For City Maintenance
City Says 4-Hour Move For Routine Park Maintenance
POSTED: 10:36 pm HST December 1, 2009
UPDATED: 6:37 am HST December 2, 2009
WAIKIKI, Hawaii -- Waikiki homeless will be forced to move their tents on Wednesday for a brief time. Is it another effort to get rid of campers along Kapiolani Park sidewalks or simply an effort by the city to clean up the park?The city said the four-hour move is for routine park maintenance like cutting the grass, but homeless campers said even though they've cleared out before; they have yet to see any maintenance there.It's a typical Tuesday night in Waikiki where the sounds of music and people gathering together are heard along Kalakaua Avenue from the homeless camp that lines the street.Some campers broke down their tents from the beach park where they've spent the day, moving them to the small strip of land the city has allowed them to live on, but Wednesday morning, they will be forced to move again."They were talking about moving the tents for general maintenance," said Waikiki resident Casey Basar.This is the second time the homeless will have moved for park maintenance. But according to those who live there, and have shuffled from park to park, the city didn't do any work the last time they moved."There was a mega amount of police taking pictures. There was no weed whacking, no sprinkler system. The homeless people know it is a ploy to take pictures of the tents and the sidewalk here, but basically there was no maintenance," said Basar.According to the city, there will be work done Wednesday to cut the grass where the campers live, and assess damage from redirected sprinklers in the park.Homeless campers were told the city crews will begin at 11 a.m. and be done by 3 p.m. They will simply move their tents over to the beach park during that time.
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