October 04, 2012
Iwi still hurting a year on from Rena
It’s a year since the cargo ship Rena grounded on the Astrolabe reach on the approach to Tauranga Harbour, but the iwi are still hurting.
Charlie Tawhiao from Ngaiterangi says while the signs of New Zealand’s worst maritime disaster aren’t as visible as they were in first few months, oil is still appearing on the beaches.
“Whanau that are going down, and there will be a lot here for the holidays, they will find that on some days when their tamariki come back from the beach there will be oil all over them, there will be oil on the wetsuits of our young kids who are surfing. Those are constant reminders, even though everyone else seems to have acted as if it is all sorted, for us living here and for those of us who spend a lot of our life in the sea, it's a constant reminder it's not over yet,” he says.
Mr Tawhiao says the talk has turned to money and compensation, but the iwi’s only concern is about keeping the pressure on to clean up the mess.