Disappeared News

by Larry Geller

I visited the Kekaulike Market this evening along with KITV. They stayed on after dark and of course verified that the rats are still there. The report should be on their web page tomorrow. They revealed on their 10 p.m. news, as I learned earlier, that the landlord is the Honolulu City and County.

So the Mayor and the Governor might have to get together about what they are going to do about this unhealthy infestation.

Staying late wasn’t an option for me since I had to hustle off to a meeting, and of course I knew the rats would still be there. The vendor I caught on video before Thanksgiving may have cleaned up their operation, but so far no rats have been harmed. They’re still in control of the entire market after dark.

In fact, it’s a rat’s paradise. Warm weather, good food, and plenty of hidey-holes and places to sleep, as this photo shows (click for larger):

Under the table are boxes to hide in. I hope the white foam basins above won’t be used for selling food tomorrow because there will be plenty of rat traffic overnight. I wonder about the orange plastic fencing material—is it to protect food underneath?

And what’s this?

Well, it might trap one rat each night, or it might not. The rats must be laughing. And probably enjoying the huge piece of meat set in the trap as bait.

Here’s a nice soft bed to jump on. This vendor has purchased a sonic rat repelling device. These are said to work, but the market is a large place and this is such a small noisemaker. Can it be heard at all in the boxes or under the comfy blankets? Again, weak medicine is being applied to a major problem.

The KITV video tonight clearly said that one vendor “washes down his stall with Clorox every night.” Good product placement, a closeup of a Clorox bottle.

Great for the rats, they have a clean floor to eat off of.

Houston, we have a problem.

Now that we know who owns the place (us), it’s time to apply pressure to City Hall to clean it up. Heck, Kekaulike Market is only one of four large markets in that immediate area. It’s just the easiest to video after dark. My guess is that the rats pretty much own the neighborhood.

So if you’d like to help, here’s the Mayor’s phone number: (808) 523-4141. His email is mayor@honolulu.gov. Try asking him to clean the rats out of Chinatown. Or anything you like.

I won’t bother posting the gov’s phone number, I’m convinced she doesn’t care.

Permalink posted by Larry @ 12/09/2009 12:06:00 AM