It's tough to complain about the "mitigation" package offered to help compensate the Wai'anae communities for accommodating the island's main garbage dump — except to say it's a misnomer.

The $2 million in improvements for Leeward O'ahu does not mitigate any direct effects of Waimanalo Gulch landfill. The neighbors seem to believe there's not much more that can be done about the eyesore, the odor and the rumbling of trucks going in and out, other than to shut the thing down.

And that is not happening anytime soon.

So the neighbors who were involved in dividing the funds say they'd rather see the money spent on the improvements listed by Mayor Mufi Hannemann than to concoct a remedy for the loss of property values and the general nuisance of a city dump. It's better, they say, that it go to social service agencies that help the community and to parks.

Fair enough. But the Wai'anae community and its representatives must see that its needs are met on a sustained basis. Now that Councilman Todd Apo chairs the budget committee, he's in a good position to advocate for his constituents.

Above all, none of this masks the fact that the root cause of the problem, the overburdened solid-waste disposal system, remains a mess. So the public and its elected leaders must maintain focus on the search for solutions to our trash disposal crisis.

The Hannemann administration is due to come out with a long-range solid-waste plan in the next few months. It needs to include site selection for another landfill to replace the gulch — elsewhere on O'ahu. Above all, it must propose various strategies for reducing the waste stream. An honest assessment of our commitment to recycling should be mandatory.

Can O'ahu persist with recycling that depends on the willingness of consumers to deal with inconvenient recycling centers? That seems unlikely. At some point — and this long-term plan seems the opportune moment — the prospects for curbside recycling need to be re-evaluated.

The mayor himself has acknowledged that alternative ways of handling garbage should be pursued.

We all can agree with that. And we're all waiting to hear some of these ideas.