February 17, 2023
Under-investment high cost for Tai Tokerau
Ngāti Wai CEO Huhana Lyndon says decades of under-investment in Taitokerau’s infrastructure has been shown up by Cyclone Gabrielle.
She says the rūnanga has brought in generators for marae in communities which have been without power since the weekend.
As well as waiting for power and water to be restored to many communities, many road links are still cut, including the Brynderwyn Hill and Mangamuka Gorge.
She says the failure of stormwater systems in Whāngarei show why the three waters reform is overdue.
“When I was standing there looking at the flood waters, it happens every time, you know where it is going to flood, and they had to close roads – my grandmother got locked in and she’s quite used to it now but do we accept that? No. We shouldn’t. We should expect more. So the call is, when will Tai Tokerau get the investment it rightly deserves,” Ms Lyndon says.