island turned into big toilet

defiled Puketutu

Wow - watercare services want to dump 4.4 million cubic metres of treated sewerage on Puketutu Island over the next 35 years and the big issue is whether they should pay $2 a cubic metre to local maori? How about these issues:

"The Manukau Harbour island is marked as a wahi tapu (area sacred to Maori) in the Manukau district plan, and many Maori groups oppose putting sewage there."

"Ms Kirkwood, who has led efforts to protect and restore the Manukau Harbour on behalf of Waikato-Tainui Maori, said the island was sacred, although restrictions on using it were less strict than before.

"It is the only island of great significance in the Manukau Harbour and we need to look after it. They need to take their crap away from the water," she said.

"Have a look at the islands in the Hauraki Gulf and the mana we put on them by making sure no rats, no possums, are on those islands. Why would we look at an island in the Manukau Harbour and put shit in it?" Ms Kirkwood said."

but wait who is this to the rescue:

"Former Waitangi Tribunal director Wira Gardiner gave evidence for Watercare that any remnants of tapu would have been removed by building a wastewater treatment plant on the island in 1958 and using nearby tidal flats as sewage ponds."

Great... thanks gardiner, good one...

What have watercare got to say?

"The island’s rich Maori and European heritage has shaped the landscape. It was the location of one of Auckland’s longest Maori settlements and has sites of significance to local iwi. In 1938 it was purchased by Sir Henry Kelliher and since then it has been used as a racing stud, sheep farm and functions venue.
Over the past 60 years the island has also been used extensively for quarrying and the disposal of clean-fill. During this time the original volcanic cones have been considerably modified and removed."

"Each day Watercare produces around 300 tonnes of treated biosolids at the Mangere Wastewater Treatment Plant. That equals around 30 truck-loads. The former quarry on Puketutu Island has the capacity for around 35 years’ production.
Under Watercare’s proposal, treated biosolids will be placed as a series of layers and contained within an embankment on the island. Over time these layers will create an elevated central landform next to the existing volcanic cone."

"The footprint of the completed landform will be approximately 46-hectares, while the footprint of the treated biosolids placement area inside the embankment will be approximately 28-hectares.
The height of the final landform will vary from approximately 40-metres in the north-east of the rehabilitation area to approximately 25-metres in the west. The upper surface will be gently sloped with a series of steps of steeper grades.
The rehabilitated site will be landscaped and progressively released to the Auckland Regional Council or a charitable trust as a regional park.
Subject to obtaining the necessary approvals for the development, rehabilitation is expected to start around 2012."

To me the way that maori are treated in this country is similar to the way this island Puketutu is being treated.