Tuhoe marae have today welcomed the news
that the Government will invest 7 million dollars
for renovations and much needed infrastructural work
for their marae.
19 marae of the tribe's marae completed and submitted applications
to the Provincial Growth Fund.
Last week Te Karere revealed there was an attempt
by the tribe's ruling entity, Te Uru Taumatua,
to block the applications.
Te Okiwa Mclean has been across all the details
and joins us live from Waimana.
Look there were some very happy Tuhoe marae representatives today
who all came to hear the news of regarding their renovation projects.
Te Karere can confirm that 19 of those 21 applications
will proceed with two marae withdrawing from the process.
That's Te Umuroa and Oputao from Ruatahuna Valley.
I spoke with chairman of Piripari Marae, Jimmy Tuwairua.
They say they've needed support for their water infrastructure
for years and they are over the moon
with the news they have waited for.
Laughter and joy that the mission is complete.
Up to 7 million dollars has been approved
from the Provincial Growth Fund for repairing 19 marae in Tuhoe.
Piripari Marae is part of Te Waimana's cluster
which is in high need of repairs.
There is a lot of repair work for our toilets and our eatery.
The outside of our whare tipuna is nearly done.
We want to make sure we do up all of the exteriors of the marae.
But Tuwairua's biggest aspiration is to fix the water system
on his marae.
Because all the water going to our marae are sourced from tanks.
I don't know what the council's intentions are,
potentially they might provide a water system service
for the benefit of visitors and guests
to ensure they are getting good, clean water.
The water from tanks isn't quite the best.
There are a total of 12 marae in Waimana in high need of maintenance.
Tuwairua hopes that marae who have not yet applied for funding do so.
Potentially more funding could be applied for to enable repairs.
There are a lot of marae in Te Waimana that need repairs.
We were denied access into the meeting due to the people of Waimana
wanting to respect alert level 2 restrictions
which means keeping marae gatherings under 100 people.
And although these marae welcome this new fund to repair marae,
there are still outstanding concerns regarding Te Uru Taumatua.
Next week PGF funding for Tuhoe marae will be confirmed.
Te Karere called Te Uru Taumatua.
We understand they meeting with kaumatua.
But Waimana Tribal chairman Matt Te Pou said
all iwi politics aside -
todays hui is all about maintaining relationships with the Crown
and to get on with the work of strengthening our pa harakeke.
For Tuhoe marae who have spoken to us over the past week
that mahi starts with their whanau,
hapu and marae with the funding they're receiving.
Thank you for the update,
Te Okiwa Mclean.
That was Te Okiwa Mclean at Te Waimana Kaku.