February 23, 2024
Māori trade director says lessons learnt in SH25A restoration for Māori business
The fast fix for highway 25A across the Coromandel Peninsula could have lessons which will help Māori business.
Dale Stephens, the director of Māori partnerships with Trade and Enterprise Dale Stephens, reopening road between Kopu and Hikuai in time for the Christmas holiday season has boosted the region’s GDP by $86 million so far this year.
He says New Zealand has a poor record for planning and delivering major infrastructure in a timely way.
“These are really important to our local economy and for our whānau because so many of our whanau enterprises are based in regions for which that main road is hugely crucial. And so I hope that the lesson from state highway 25/25A has well and truly been learned because it’s absolutely vital to our people,” he says.