Minister meets with the Puaikura accommodation operators

The meeting held on Thursday morning at the Edgewater Resort between the Minister of MOIP, Minister William Heather Jnr and his delegation and accommodation operators of Puaikura to discuss issues relating to infrastructure, went quite well. .
MC Rohan Ellis, group manager of three properties in the area, warmly welcomed the Minister, his CEO Tere Taio and President of the Are Ariki, Tou Travel Ariki. Ellis jokingly reminded the Minster that tourism is the economic powerhouse of the Cook Islands.
Topics discussed included: the tip behind the prison (referring to the waste facility), solid and liquid waste management, water reticulation, alternative energy and the ongoing issue of petty crime.
Most of the accommodation operators attended, hosts Edgewater Resort and Rarotongan Beach Resort, Lagoon Lodges, Castaways, Manuia Beach, Aroa Beachside, Sunhaven, Puaikura Reef Lodges and Heritage Holdings. Also there were three executives from Origin Energy Pacific who have been advising some of the properties on alternative energy.
The Minister said he needed the support of the community to tackle these problems as a way ‘to help you to help yourselves’ and the meeting was to give them an opportunity to voice their concerns.
Chris from Edgewater Resort said he had noticed a significant improvement in dealing with the fly problem since October last year (apart from a glitch over Christmas) and especially over past week to 10 days.
The roads needed improvements and drainage to handle the rainwater accumulation when there were heavy downpours. He asked what is being done about collecting green wasted, old white ware (fridges etc), old cars, tyres and scrap metal.
Green waste was a big concern for quite a few operators with Denis from Sunhaven saying that up until January 2009, he used to be able to call General Transport to cart away his green waste but that service was no longer available because there was nowhere to put the green waste. He claimed there was too much to compost but burning would produce air pollution, so what was the answer?
Denis said an infestation of insects (thrips) were attacking the foliage on hedges and trees and he had heard that part of the eradication programme was to trim the greenery but that would only cause more green waste so what were people supposed to do with the extra waste?
A different problem is caused by the mynah birds with the manager of the Rarotongan Beach Resort & Spa reporting that the birds have even attacked some of the guests. Another operator had a solution that she stumbled on by accident after she laid out mouse bait which the mynah birds ate and died.
Then there was the perennial problem of petty theft with tourists having their money or effects being stolen, sometimes while they are right there. Such incidents are very disturbing for the affected guests who then fear they are not safe in their rooms. Police response was less than satisfactory with the officers asking guests as to whether or not they really had locked their doors as claimed.
The Neighbourhood Watch programme for Puaikura was very helpful in combating the problem but membership had dropped off and the scheme needed everyone’s financial support to keep going with subscriptions of $100 per month.
Other properties which take part are the Edgewater with Chris saying they see Neighbourhood Watch as part of their community involvement. Other properties admit that their subscriptions have lapsed but intend to renew as it is such a valuable scheme. A spokesman for the Rarotongan said that to his knowledge, their resort is not part of the scheme possibly as it already had extensive security systems in place for their guests.
Saving money using alternative energy
Executives from Origin Energy Pacific are on the island and have been asked by several properties to assist them to switch to alternative energy source and save money.
For instance, Rohan Ellis from Manuia Beach said that their annual power bill was $130,000 but if they switch to alternative energy, they could reduce the bill to only $45,000 which is a massive saving..
Edgewater has also asked the Origin team for advice as to how to reduce their energy bills especially how to cope with peak electricity times. No doubt with the scope of the possible savings, others will follow suit shortly.
Catching fish in Raui areas
Another issue was that people have been breaking the marine reserves which have been created under the Raui scheme. Rohan said fishermen are using nets to catch the fish but as far as he knew, there were still traces of ciguatera in the fish, so he could not understand why anyone would want to catch and eat them. However, if the fish were in the lagoon, they were an attraction for visitors who liked to snorkel in the lagoon. He welcomed the presence of the President of the House of Ariki, Tou Travel Ariki at the meeting as he was in the best position to confer with Tinomana Ariki and the Aronga Mana of Puaikura on the issue of Raui. Earliner in the meeting, Tou Ariki explained that his role as President of the House of Ariki and to listen to the voice of the people and that it was an honour for him to lend a hand to Minister Heather in his work.
The President also expressed his displeasure at being described as an honorary CEO whereas in fact, he was a representative of the Aronga Mana, he sees his role as assisting Minister Heather who also happens to be the Minister responsible for the House of Ariki and Koutu Nui.
He said the Minister is a hard working man and it is an honour for him to assist him in his work. “If we paddle our boat together, we will all go far”