WAILUKU, Maui — Maui County began hauling derelict vehicles off the side of county roads yesterday after Gov. Linda Lingle signed an emergency proclamation declaring the island a disaster area.

"We are nearing the end of this public nuisance," Mayor Alan Arakawa said. "The county will begin towing derelict cars today."

The governor's proclamation offers a six-month waiver allowing the county to store derelict vehicles on two acres of county-owned land in Pu'unene. The land is zoned for agriculture.

"If calling Maui a disaster area is what it takes to get these junkers off the road, then that's what it takes," Arakawa said.

The island has been without a junked-car processor since last year, and abandoned vehicles have been piling up on the roadways for months.

In asking the state to use the land, the county argued that the crisis had become a health and public safety issue. Concerns included the fact that vehicles are attracting rodents and pose a hazard to motorists stopping on roadsides at night when it's hard to see.

In the emergency proclamation, the governor noted that the lack of a permitted vehicle storage facility has created "extraordinary" conditions on Maui's roads.