December 19, 2019
Eruption cost counted as body search continues
Ngāti Awa is starting to count the financial cost of the explosion on Whakaari/ White Island.
The Government has approved a $5 million fund to help small businesses in Whakatāne.
Tracey Hook, the chief executive of Ngāti Awa Group Holdings which owns White Island Tours, says it's still too soon to determine how many businesses will be affected and to what extent.
"Whakaari was the main attraction to the town and local business: cafes, restaurants, hotels will all feel impact of this no doubt." shesays
Police say they are scaling back the search for the bodies of White Island Tours’ guide Hayden Marshall-Inman and 17-year old Australian Winona Langford, which are believed to have been washed out to sea by heavy rain on the night after the eruption, and it will continue using local resources.
Copyright © 2019, UMA Broadcasting Ltd: www.waateanews.com