March 21, 2023
First ship in blue highway in Gisborne
The Rangitata is due to arrive in Gisborne today delivering a coastal shipping lifeline for businesses, residents and the primary sector in the cyclone-stricken regions of Hawkes Bay and Tairāwhiti.
Regional Economic Development Minister Kiri Allan says what’s being called the ‘blue highway’ has been set up with a $500,000 grant and a $2.25 million underwrite to Eastland Port to convert parts of its Gisborne log port to take handle products including meat, fruit and vegetables.
That will bring major economic benefits.
“Ovation which is our meatworks or some of our larger producers, 70 to 80 percent of the workforce are Māori. If those large producers go down, that is our whānau without bread and butter on the table and currently they can’t get stock out of the region because we don’t have secure enough roads to do so,” Minister Allen says.
It’s the first time in 40 years that Gisborne has been served by coastal shipping.