HONOLULU (KHON2) — The Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) announced over 30 camps on both sides of Diamond Head will be cleaned up during the week of Monday, April 5.
The efforts at Diamond Head are part of a statewide coordinated plan to mitigate threats to cultural and natural resources on lands and parks under the jurisdiction of DLNR officials.
According to the DLNR homeless coordinator, the cleanups are focused on more than just enforcing rules that restrict camping.
“Housing is a piece, outreach is a piece, and enforcement is a piece of the plan and if you don’t have all three, it’s not going to work. Having HPD join us has been very helpful because they can easily make connections between what may be happening in Waikīkī and what’s happening on Diamond Head. Our officers cannot always make those connections because they only patrol DLNR lands,”
Pua Aiu, Department of Land and Natural Resources homeless coordinator.
Other partners at Diamond Head include case workers from the Institute for Human Services, the City T.E.A.M. Work Hawaii program and social work students from the University of Hawai’i Thompson School of Social Work and Public Health who assist with outreach and notifying homeless individuals before enforcement.
The DLNR will continue cleaning up its properties through April, 2021 including Kapena Falls, Sand Island State Recreational Area and on unencumbered lands in Kapolei and Leeward O‘ahu.
Click here for more information about Hawaii’s approach to homelessness. Call (808)-586-1093 or email gov.homelessness@hawaii.gov to report a homeless concern.
