Minister praised for consultation

Puaikura engineer Sam Napa has praised Infrastructure Minister William Heather Jnr for calling a public meeting on Monday evening to discuss the proposal to site the new jetty near Arorangi Primary School.
Heather is also the MP for the area, Ruaau. Heather’s CEO Tere Taio chaired the meeting and Ports Authority CEO Bim Tou did the presentation.
The jetty is the proposed alternative landing site for passengers when cruise vessels are unable to offload at Avarua in the event of adverse weather conditions.
Napa said he and others in the community were concerned that the jetty would go ahead in July without public consultation.
He said the majority of the large crowd (over 100) who were present at the Aroa Nui Hall, were not in favour of locating the new jetty at the site and Rutaki was proposed as an alternative.
Napa said concerns were the close proximity to the school would be an inconvenience. The site was a historical one and church groups had voiced their concerns about arrivals on a Sunday. Napa said any widening of the passage would affect the area’s natural storm barrier. There would be increased sand loss from beaches. He said while the loss to tourism was about $3 million a year if cruise passengers could not land at Avarua, the environmental impact, loss and damage could not be measured.
Napa believed a proper due diligence had not been carried out and this was an example of government going beyond crazy.
Napa said those who supported the proposal revealed the bottom line was really to utilize the Aroa Nui Hall and pay off the debt on that building.

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