February 20, 2023
Coromandel Māori communities feel left alone
A Coromandel Māori leader says Māori on the peninsula get forgotten when major events like Cyclone Gabrielle happens.
Denise Messiter says a small Māori settlement north of Colville has been without power for 10 days.
She says Māori in communities like Manaia, Koputauaki, Harataunga and Whangapaoa aren’t seen as economically important, so they’re left to fend for themselves.
“But our communities are really connected, we look after each other. We stood up whānau-based, marae-led evacuation centres for our communities with no support at all. We had let TCDC (Thames Coromandel District Council) know well before they had even declared a local emergency what our needs were and they were unable to provide for those – hold on, I take that back, they were able to give some blankets and torches and batteries,” Ms Messiter says.
She says all the attention is still on the big townships like Whitianga and Whangamatā.