Wellington Harbour is polluted and smells.
That's bad enough but that is just the surface of the issue, because it is also a reflection of the mauri of Te Whanganui a Tara or the great Harbour of Tara and that reflects the people.
"Stormwater pipes are spewing raw sewage into Wellington Harbour.
The harbour is also being polluted with animal faeces, heavy metals, cigarette butts and oil products that are commonly washed into the stormwater system.
Officials admit they are unsure how polluted the harbour has become and plan to step up monitoring."
It's not really a surprise - is it?
How many other harbours around our country are in the same state? perhaps the better question is, "How many are not polluted?" I suspect the answer is "Not many - if any."
"Four overflows this year sent 44.6 cubic metres of raw sewage pouring into the harbour. A fifth mishap let 57 cubic metres into Cook Strait.
About 2.5 million cubic litres of treated sewage also poured into the harbour during repairs to Hutt Valley's sewerage pipe in May."
Blame it on the pipes, the age, the weather - blame everything. But the truth is that this is a result of GROWTH with no consideration for the environment. The environment remembers and repays the compliment 3 fold.
What to do? It's hard to know, yes - monitoring, yes - fines for offenders but really nothing will change unless we change the attitude that says, "Economic growth is the most important thing - more important than people, than families, than nature, than papatuanuku."
Was the harbour polluted when maori managed it? NO.
Was there kai moana available for whanau? YES.
What is the difference?
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