Source: Radio New Zealand
Moa Point Wastewater Plant. RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
The head of Wellington’s new water entity says it’s still unclear how its takeover of the barely-functional Moa Point wastewater treatment plant will work.
Tiaki Wai replaces Wellington Water from 1 July, inheriting council-owned water assets including the Moa Point plant.
For two weeks, raw sewage has been spewing into the sea after a massive failure at the facility, which is extensively damaged and cannot treat wastewater.
It’s unclear what happened, and when the plant will be fixed. Officials say they can’t give much information, citing the impending Crown review and insurance processes.
During an “Introduction to Tiaki Wai” briefing to Wellington city councillors on Wednesday afternoon, Tiaki Wai chair Will Peet mentioned Moa Point within the first minute and a half of his address.
“The catastrophic failure of the plant is very significant for us as an organisation,” he said, adding that he looked forward to the Crown review.
“We’re very much supportive of getting some interim reporting as the inquiry progresses, I think we want to hear what we can do, and when we can do it.”
Councillor Ray Chung questioned whether Tiaki Wai would hold off taking over Moa Point “until we’ve solved all the problems”.
But Peet said that had not been top of mind.
“The main job is dealing right now with the response and immediate recovery steps, we’ve got four months to work through the particulars.”
Peet said he was confident Tiaki Wai had the “financial ability to work it through”, and he would continue to work with the mayor and council chief executive on a “sensible approach to that”.
“The main thing is that nobody should win or lose based on a change of ownership,” Peet said.
There was little discussion of Moa Point during the meeting – but at the beginning chairperson Nureddin Abdurahman had reminded councillors it was not the focus.
“Today’s focus is on Tiaki Wai, and if you want to ask any question beyond that, be aware of some of the ministerial inquiries that we have as well.”
The public was excluded for the second half hour of the meeting, because commercially sensitive information was being discussed.
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
