August 23, 2019
Gisborne council challenged on water management
Te Aitanga a Māhaki was out in force at the Gisborne Council chamber yesterday to protest the region's water management and water allocation policies.
Member Willie Te Aho says it was a warning for the council that will be elected in October that there are long standing issues that need to addressed.
On the wastewater front, this includes the continued dumping of sewage and mortuary waste in the moana.
The iwi also feels its landowners getting a fair share of fresh water.
"If we don't get access to water we can't develop and that means we are left with sheep and beef grazing or maize, when the reality is our lands are fertile (enough) to be in kiwifruit gold and other high value horticultural crops and there is no water to be allocated and in our view that is a racist system that does not allow for allocation to tangata whenua," Mr Te Aho says.
The issues will also be raised next week at a Waitangi Tribunal hearing in Gisborne.
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